Realize
by ForeverRose123
Summary: A marriage law has been passed, the Ministry have chosen. Who will the Golden Trio's spouses be? Will they be able to cope with such a commitment at such a young age?   Post war though Golden Trio still in Hogwarts. Rated for swearing. ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter One

If you just realize what I just realized,

Then we'd be perfect for each other,

And will never find another,

Just realize what I just realized,

We'd never have to wonder if

We missed out on each other now.

Colbie Caillat - Realize.

Hellooo dears(: So this is my new fic, my first ever Harry Potter one ;D I've written many Harry Potter stories over the years, I just never thought any of them were good enough, not even sure if this is good enough, but yeah, who cares? (: Any way, let me know if you like it.

Read on m'chickens.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that relates to Harry Potter, it all belongs to the wonderful Joanne Rowling. Unless you see something you don't recognize, then it might be mine.

Set post war, though most of the seventh years have returned to Hogwarts to redo they're final year, so obviously, it's a AU story. (:

Chapter One.

Tuesday 1st September 1998. (Words: 3343.)

Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had just stepped off the Hogwarts Express. It had been six

months since the end of the war, and most of the seventh years from the previous year (now eighth years) had

accepted Professor McGonagall's request to re-do their last year at Hogwarts.

They walked out of the station and got into a Thesteral pulled carriage that would take them to the Castle.

As the carriages drove towards the castle the Harry, Ron and Hermione and many other students noticed that the castle been fully restored in the few short months after the final battle.

The Golden Trio walked through the Entrance hall and into the Great hall, talking excitedly amongst themselves.

When they entered, they walked over to the Gryffindor table, and it was then that Hermione noticed Draco Malfoy too had returned to Hogwarts.

"Look," she pointed out, nodding her head in the direction of the Slytherin table.

"Blimey, didn't expect to see him back," Harry muttered, looking at the blond boy.

"Well, he didn't exactly have a decent year last year either, did he?" Hermione said reasonably.

"Bloody git," Ron glared. It appeared, after everything that had happened, Ron still held a lot of hatred for the Slytherin.

Harry and Hermione too disliked the boy to a certain extent, but were willing to be at least somewhat civil towards him. Harry had even gone as far as to step up at Draco and Narcissa's trial, in order to get them off on a lighter sentence.

Narcissa was on house arrest for six months and had received a hefty fine, and Draco was ordered to complete 200 hundred hours of community service in a Muggle community, much to his dismay.

However, Harry had refused to help Lucius, which was, of course, understandable.

"Ronald, you know full well that he didn't want to become a Death Eater and follow that monstrous, vile man. He threatened his family. What would you do if someone did that to you?" Hermione said sharply.

She didn't exactly forgive Draco for everything that he'd put them through over the past seven years, especially not with what had happened at Malfoy Manor during the war, but she did understand why he did it. She too, would do the same if she were in his position.

"I know, I know. But just because the war is over, it doesn't mean I have to like him," Ron muttered as Professor McGonagall finished up the sorting ceremony.

Once the feast was done with, Professor McGonagall once again stood at the front of the Hall.

"Would all seventh and eighth years stay behind for an important announcement please. Thank you," she said and walked back towards the staff table.

"I wonder what this is about?" Hermione said as a murmur ran across the Hall, students conversing on what it could be.

Ron shrugged. "I dunno, but whatever it is, I hope she hurry's up. I'm knackered."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione saw Professor McGonagall address them again now that the hall was empty of the younger students.

"The reason I have asked you all to stay is because I have one final announcement that will affect you all. There is to be an announcement of a Marriage Law tomorrow and we have been asked to set up a private wing in the Castle for all students that are married to live in," she said, looking at each House.

Every one looked shocked, and some, down right horrified.

"The ministry are putting in place a marriage law for people between the ages of 17 and 45, that states you must marry the person chosen for you and produce one magical child within 18 months and a second child within 5 years or be you will be banished from the wizarding community and have your wand snapped," she continued.

Hermione felt her stomach drop. She was going to be forced to marry someone who she may not know and produce children with them. She was only eighteen. She'd only lost her virginity less than a year ago. To Ron, none the less.

What an awkward experience that had been. She felt herself start to panic. What would her parents say when she told them she was to be married?

And worse, what if she was set up with a wannabe Death Eater? They would torture her, maybe even kill her.

"Tomorrow at breakfast, a letter from the Ministry will be handed out to each of you and a leaflet with more information about the law. A majority of you will no doubt be married to one another, but some of you may not. I know this has come as a shock to you all, but there is nothing I can do. The reason behind it all is to repopulate after the war. You are all dismissed, you will find out who you are to marry in the morning. Good night," she said, turning around and walking back to the professor's table.

The whole room was in stunned silence.

They were going to be married. And it may not be to someone they know. They could dislike the person. Hate them, even.

"She cannot be serious!" Hermione protested as they walked into the common room ten minutes later, to find it nearly empty.

"There must be some law against this. They cant just tell us who we are going to marry! It's ridiculous."

"They've all gone bloody mad," Ron agreed. "What if we get paired off with some Slytherin?" he said in disgust.

"Ron, I think that's the whole point in the whole thing. Partly to repopulate, then to get some sort of unity between us all. Now that Voldemort is gone, there's no reason for half of them to follow his beliefs any more," Ginny said reasonably.

"Well, if I get some Slytherin, I'm going to refuse to marry them!" Ron said, his face flushing in anger.

"You can't, Ron. Or do you want your wand snapped and to be shunned from the wizard world? No offence mate, but you know hardly anything about the Muggle world. You wouldn't last a week," Harry said, shrugging slightly.

Huffing, Ron didn't say any more on the subject.

"Well, why don't we all get some sleep? It's been a long, tiring day," Hermione said.

"Good idea," Ginny said, eyeing her brother's furious look. She knew if they talked about it much more he would start a rant and wouldn't finish until early hours of the morning.

Ginny grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her towards the girls dormitory's in a haste.

Wednesday 2nd September 1998.

The next morning, Hermione rose to her alarm clock beeping.

"God, Hermione, turn that thing off!" Lavender moaned, shoving a pillow over her head to block the noise.

Rolling out of bed, Hermione shut off the alarm clock and stretched.

"You have to get up any way," she told Lavender and Parvati yawning. "Or don't you want to find out who your going to be marrying?" she added as she walked into their shared bathroom and got into one of the showers.

She smirked slightly as she heard her two over eccentric dorm mates jump out of bed and fly around the room in a flurry.

In the boys dormitory's, the five occupants were sat on their beds, talking about the Marriage Law.

"Who do you think you'll get, Harry?" Neville asked, climbing out of bed, putting his slippers on. Yes, Neville may have grown more of a back bone since the war, but he still wore his striped pajama bottoms (though he now decided against the matching top and wore a simple white vest instead) and his blue granddad slippers, as Dean liked to call them.

Well, they do say old habits died hard.

Harry shrugged and ran a hand through his already messy hair, a trait he'd apparently inherited from his father.

"I'm not too fussed to be honest. I just hope it's someone who can hold their end of the conversation and cares about other things that aren't just hair and clothes. I don't think I could deal with that," he said, yawning lightly.

"So basically not Lavender and Parvati then?" Dean joked, buttoning us his school shirt.

"What about you Nev?" Seamus asked, putting his school books in his bag.

"I have the same views as Harry, I guess. Ah, but I think I'll add Eloise Midgen to that list," he chuckled.

"To be fair, though," Seamus said as he got dressed. "She doesn't look nearly as bad as she did in fourth year. Yeah alright, she may not be absolutely gorgeous, like, but she's gotten a lot better over the years."

"Has someone got a crush for Eloise? You sly old dog," Ron joked, and Seamus gave him the finger.

Once they were all dressed, had their school bags packed, and had mentally prepared themselves (to a certain extent), they went downstairs to the common room to find Hermione and Ginny. The other girls had apparently rushed down to the Great Hall. Either eager to find out who they were to be married to, or too nervous to sit around and wait.

Hermione looked hysterical and Ginny looked both nervous and curious.

"Hey," Ginny said as they approached them.

"Ready to go down?" Hermione squeaked.

"Breathe, Hermione. No matter what, we'll be here for you and Gin. We won't let anything happen to you," Harry said, giving his friend a comforting hug.

"Thanks, Harry," she said and they all left the Gryffindor tower and made their way down to the Great Hall.

The Hall was nearly full by the time they entered, full of excited 1st , 2nd , 3rd , 4th, 5th and 6th years, who were eager to start the new school year and nervous and petrified 7th and 8th years.

Sitting down at the table, they made themselves some toast and tea before the heads of each houses began walking up the tables holding a boxes each which apparently held the leaflets and the letter's from the Ministry that Professor McGonagall had told them about.

Once McGonagall got to them, Hermione looked like she was going to pass out, as did a few others throughout the hall.

Professor McGonagall gave them their letters, leaflets and their school timetables with a sympathetic look and carried on down the table.

Hermione sat staring at her letter for a few minutes as the others opened their's.

"Oh my god," Ginny said, her jaw dropping.

"What? Who have you got?" Hermione said, her head snapping up to look at her only girl best friend. She was worried about who Ginny would get. She didn't want her dumped with some psychopathic lunatic for the rest of her life. And yes, it would be the rest of her life. In the wizarding world, there was no such thing as a divorce. One of the many perks of the Muggle world, was divorce.

"Blaise Zambini," she said quietly. Ginny didn't know whether to be petrified of giddy. Well, he wasn't exactly ugly, now was he?

"What?" Ron said furiously, looking up from his own letter. "You can't marry him, he's a Slytherin!"

However, Ginny wasn't paying him any attention as her eyes had diverted to the Slytherin table in search of Blaise. She couldn't help it.

Once she saw him, she blushed furiously when she noticed he, too, was looking at her and gave him a half smile which he returned.

The Zambini's had been one of the very few Slytherin families who stayed neutral during both wars. Not many people had the guts to do that. Especially an all Slytherin family. Ginny held a lot of respect for them, as did many other's on the light side.

"Who have you got, Ron?" Ginny asked, snapping her gaze away from the Slytherin table, instead turning to look at her brother.

"Luna," he said, smiling in relief.

"Oh, congratulations," she said, grinning. They were, after all, very close friends with Luna. She was glad that her brother would at least be the slightest bit happy with Luna.

"What about you Harry?" Ron asked, leaning over to look at

Harry's letter. But before he could read it, a shriek came from across the hall.

"I'M MARRYING POTTER? NO!" Pansy Parkinson screamed, nearly in tears. "I REFUSE TO MARRY HIM!"

She then stormed out of the hall in a fit of rage.

"Am I that bad?" Harry joked, apparently not that bothered by who he was marrying.

He'd been different since the war ended. He closed himself off. Rarely spoke to people that wasn't in his tight knit group of friends. And when he did speak, he had a 'whatever' tone about him. He hid the way he really felt. Broken. Regret. And above all, the grief he felt for all the poor souls that had died because of him.

"Aren't you going to open your letter, Hermione?" Ginny asked

suddenly.

"What?" Hermione said, seeming to have forgotten all about her own letter. "Oh, right. Yeah," she mumbled, hands shaking as she ripped open the letter.

It read:

_'Dear Ms. Hermione Granger_

_As per the announcement of the Marriage Law, the Ministry have paired you with Mr. Draco Malfoy. Your wedding is to take place by September 30th. A ministry official will preside over your wedding and will place the necessary charms on your wedding rings._

_Good luck with your marriage._

_Regards_

_Camilla Awbrey._

_Head of the Department of Marriages.'_

"No," Hermione gasped, putting the letter on the table as though it burned her. "No, no, no!" she repeated, shaking her head with a look of disbelief on her face.

"What is it Hermione? Who did you get?" Ginny said quickly, snatching the letter up of the table.

Hermione didn't answer, only stared at the wall on the opposite side of the room, careful not to look at the Slytherin table.

"Oh my good lord," Ginny said, shocked.

"Who did she get?" Ron said impatiently.

"Draco Malfoy," Hermione whispered, not looking away from the wall.

"What?" Ron yelled, standing up. Spotting Professor McGonagall walking past to them, he scurried over to her.

"Professor, you have to stop this law! Not only is my sister marrying Zambini, but Harry is marrying Parkinson and Hermione has to marry that Death Eater Malfoy!" he said loudly, causing people to stare at him.

"Mr. Weasley, there is nothing I can do about it. They will just have to get over there past feuds and get along with one another," she said sharply before walking to the front of the hall again.

"Past feuds?" Ron said, astonished as he sat back down. "It goes a bit further than that, don't you think? That asshole watched you being tortured by his own _Auntie _and he did nothing to stop her!"

Hermione flinched, remembering that awful, awful day. She still had nightmares about that. Almost every night. It haunted her every where she went. Even now, she flinched when someone raised their wand near her.

"The ministry has decided to put a marriage law into affect as of yesterday," Professor McGonagall said from the front of the hall.

"All students over the age of 17 have just been informed on who they are betrothed to and the date they must do it by. As you can see from the pamphlets there are several reasons for doing this, the most important being that after the war our population has thinned extremely and the ministry is hoping that this will help to stop the wizarding world in Great Britain from dying out all together. As I informed you last night, there is a private wing in the Castle. You will find it on the seventh floor corridor to the right. This is the 'Family Wing,' where all the newly married couples will live. It will afford enough room for any children born while you are all still in school, it also has a nursery area which will have fully trained nanny's so that you can come back to classes when you are ready. Please read through these pamphlets carefully, even if you are not of age yet as the law will affect you soon enough." Professor McGonagall said to them all.

"Myself and the rest of your teachers will be willing to answer any questions you have to the best of our abilities and welcome you to come and see us between lessons. After dinner tonight, I will take you all to your assigned dormitories. Now off to class," she said sharply, nodding at them all.

"I can't believe she's so calm about this," Neville said as they rose from their seats at the Gryffindor table.

"She can't exactly do anything about it," Harry said. "Who'd you get, anyway?"

"Some girl called Astoria Greengrass," Neville said shrugging.

"She's a Slytherin," Ginny said. "She's in my year."

Neville didn't seem too fussed about this new information.

Hermione, however, finally gave into the urge that had been nagging at her since she'd found out who she was to marry and let her eyes wander across the room, seeking out Draco Malfoy's platinum blond hair.

He was sat at Slytherin table still, holding his letter in his hand with a dumb-struck look on his face. He didn't particularly look too pleased about the arrangement, either.

After being physically pulled from his seat by Blaise Zambini, he seemed to snap out of things, and as though knowing Hermione was looking at him, his eyes snapped towards where she stood. He didn't look angry, but he didn't look delightful either. In fact, he didn't have any emotion on his face whatsoever. He just looked at her blankly.

"Hermione, come on, or we'll be late to Potions, and I wanna see who our teacher is considering Snapes, uh, no longer with us and Slughorn's gone into permanent retirement," Ron said, practically dragging Hermione from the hall and down towards the dungeon's with Harry, Neville, Seamus and Dean.

"I think she's in shock," Seamus said, eyeing Hermione with a worried look on his face.

"Well, you would be too if you just found out you had to marry Draco Malfoy," Dean said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm - I'm fine," Hermione said as they entered their Potions class room to see a tall, dark man wearing dark purple robes.

"Good morning, class. I'd like to introduce myself. I am Professor Zambini," he said in a deep voice. Italian, Hermione thought.

A few of them murmured, looking from Professor Zambini to Blaise, wondering if there was any relation.

Parvati raised her hand hesitantly. Trust her to be the first one to want the gossip, Hermione thought darkly.

"Yes, miss…?" he said, trailing off, inquiring her name.

"Parvati Patil, sir. I was just wondering if you were any relation to -" she started but Blaise cut her off.

"Yes, Patil, he's my father," he said, rolling his eyes and Draco muttered something to him from the next seat.

"Oh," Parvati said, smiling lightly, a look that told them all that she would be spreading that as soon as the class was finished with.

"I'd also like to congratulate you all on your new proposals and I hope you all have happy lives, though it may be an inconvenience to some of you," Professor Zambini continued, looking around at them all.

When he mentioned their marriages, Hermione felt her eyes reluctantly drifting towards Malfoy again to see him looking pointedly away from her, a stony look on his face.

Great, she thought. This was going to be an extremely long life. Why oh why did she have to have Draco Malfoy, the boy who'd loathed her since she met him, out of all people?


	2. Chapter Two

_Author's note. _

_Helloo. I've finally got an update! has been a real pain recently. I've been trying to upload this chapter since the 20__th__, and it would not let me upload it! I then found out that not only was it happening with me, but a few other's as well!_

_Anyway, you have __Dramione-Fan 17 __to thank, because she informed me on how I could upload this. _

_I would like to inform you all that I now have Twitter and a Blog. The links are posted on my profile … I would suggest you check them out, because I'll most likely post information about my stories on them. _

_Thank you all for reviewing last chapter and I hope you like this one! _

Chapter Two.

Wednesday 2nd September 1998. (Words: 3577.)

The day seemed to drag on. With having double potions (though Professor Zabini was an extraordinarily good and intriguing teacher who the Gryffindor actually seemed to like) charms, transfiguration and History of Magic.

But finally, it was dinner time.

Walking into the Great Hall and towards their table, Ron immediately piled his plate high with food, moaning about how hungry he was.

"Do you ever stop eating?" Hermione asked, eyeing him with slight disgust.

"What? I'm hungry," Ron said, shrugging as he shoved a spoonful of cottage pie into his mouth.

"I feel so sorry for Luna. She's going to be constantly at that stove, cooking you food," Harry joked, causing everyone to laugh.

"Hello," said a dreamy voice. Speak of the devil, and she shall appear. Luna had just walked up to the Gryffindor table with her plate of food and sat next to Ron. "I thought I'd come over, since we're going to be getting married," she said smiling at Ron.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Ron said nodding, smiling kindly at her. He'd learnt to tolerate Luna over the years. She wasn't as bad as he'd originally thought. Some of the things she actually said was interesting. And she had a huge amount of bravery and courage. It was surprising that she wasn't a Gryffindor.

Once they'd finished with dinner, Professor McGonagall gathered the 7th and 8th years outside the Great Hall. Once she'd done a roll call, she lead them up several flights of stairs to the seventh floor, the corridor on the right, to be more specific.

Once they reached the 'Family wing', which was a long corridor with at least forty moving portraits (much like the Fat Lady),

Professor McGonagall asked them to pair up with their future spouses.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione walked over to Draco who was stood behind a squabbling Harry and Pansy. Well, it was really a one sided argument. Harry just retorted with a sarcastic comment every time Pansy paused for breath.

Malfoy had changed since the war, Hermione decided. He no longer slicked his hair back, but let it hang loose, so that his fringe covered his eyes slightly, and it looked slightly like a longer, blond version of Harry's messy locks. Which was an odd thought.

He also had a long scar down his neck, and he looked more well built than he did before. There was a blank look in his grey-blue eyes. It almost looked dead. Lifeless. Like there was no emotion left in them. Like they had given up.

"Granger," he said curtly, nodding at her as she stood beside him.

"Malfoy," she said quietly, not looking at him. If she did, she might burst into tears. She had to spend the rest of her life with this man. Someone who would hate her. Someone who had watched her withering on the ground in agony. Someone who had tormented her for years because of her blood status.

How could she bring children into that? Bring them into a family with no love in it. How would they feel?

Instead of looking at Draco, she looked around herself too see who else had been betrothed to one another.

There was Lavender Brown and Justin Finch-Fletchly stood awkwardly together.

Then there was Parvati Patil with Dean Thomas, who didn't look to bothered by being together.

Parvati's twin, Padma was to marry Seamus, who was grinning at Dean. It was just like them two to be happy that they were marrying into the same family.

Then there was Daphne Greengrass, the sister of Neville's future wife, with Theodore Nott. They both looked quite

relieved to be marrying each other, both being Slytherin and all.

Millicent Bullstrode was stood next to a clueless looking Gregory Goyle and Eloise Midgen was stood next to an annoyed Michael Corner.

There was a few other's who Hermione didn't recognize, some of them were stood on there own, and she presumed they were marrying somebody who wasn't attending Hogwarts.

Professor McGonagall proceeded to explain the corridor to them. They were to set passwords that both party's agreed on.

At the very end of the long corridor was the nanny's quarters with the large nursery. The fully trained nanny's with a medical degree would not arrive until the first child had been born, which wouldn't be for another ten months, at least.

Next to each of the paintings, Hermione saw, was a little golden plaque. The nearest one read "_Jenson." _

"Next to each of the portraits, Is a plaque. It will read the groom's surname. If you find the one with either your name or in the girls' cases, their spouses surname, then this is to be your new dorm. Now, go and find your portraits. They will open automatically for you, considering you have not set a password, and I will visit each of you in the next twenty minutes to set the pass word. Am I clear?" Professor McGonagall said, looking over her glasses at them all.

There was a chorus of 'Yes Professor's,' before everyone broke out from their lines and began walking down the corridor, looking for their room.

It only took Hermione and Draco minutes to find their dorm, which was based in the centre of the corridor, in between Neville and Astoria and Pansy and Harry.

Hermione almost sighed in relief at being so close to two of her friends.

The portrait was of a beautiful Greek Goddess. She had long, blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes. She was wearing a white, long dress. She was stood inside a enormous, open clam shell that was sat on the edge of a cliff, with a waterfall just to the side.

When the woman noticed Hermione and Draco stood in front of the portrait, she smiled warmly down at them.

"My name is Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty and sexuality. It's a pleasure to meet you both."

Hermione's eyes widened. She'd read all about Aphrodite. The Greek Gods and Goddesses had fascinated her when she was a child.

"It's wonderful to meet, you," Hermione said, her face flushing in content. She understood why Aphrodite was the Goddess of Beauty. She was gorgeous.

"Would you like to enter?" Aphrodite said softly.

"That would be lovely," Draco said politely. He didn't seem to enthralled by her beauty as Hermione had been. That struck Hermione as odd. But she couldn't quite understand why.

The portrait swung inwards and Hermione and Draco stepped through silently.

They entered into the hallway of a small 2 bedroom dorm with plain white walls and floors.

"It will all be like this until you have your wedding and decide how you would like to decorate it," said a voice from behind them.

Hermione spun around, gasping in utter shock. Professor McGonagall was stood in the entry way of the dorm.

"Professor, you startled me," Hermione said, causing Draco to roll his eyes, which Hermione pointedly ignored.

"That was not my intentions, I assure you, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall said smoothly. "Now, on the coffee table

in the living area there is a catalogue and a piece of magical parchment. Once you look through it and decide what you want, write it on the parchment and it will magically transform the rooms to look how you have requested. Tonight you will return to your House Dormitories. But tomorrow, while you are in class, all of your belonging's will be brought here and instead of living in the dorms, you will move in here. And also, would you please decide on a password and write it on the parchment. You have to agree equally or it will not work. Now, I'm going to go and explain this to your neighbors Mr. Longbottom and Ms. Greengrass. Please, try and get along," she said giving them an imploring look before she left them to explore their new home.

To the right of the front door was a medium sized bathroom with a copper bath and shower, toilet and sink and next to that room they found what was meant to eventually be the baby's room.

Inside was a cot, a mosses basket, a baby changing unit, along with a small chest of drawers and shelves along the walls which were all in white.

Around the corner led into an open plan living-room. It had two settee's, facing each other with a coffee table

in-between. There was also a empty bookcase and two sideboards. On the other side of the room was a door.

Walking over to it, they discovered it was a smallish kitchen.

Walking back through the living-room, to the left, there was a small hidden corridor with only one door in it which Hermione presumed led to er - their bedroom.

Inside was a large, four poster bed, similar to the ones they had in their dorms, only a double, a large antique

wardrobe, and a vanity table.

"It's so bland," Draco said, looking around in distaste.

"That's because it's not decorated yet, Malfoy," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "Obviously it's going to look plain

when everything's white."

Glaring at her, he sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the opposite wall.

"This is so stupid," he muttered. "Why should we be forced into marriage like this?"

"Weren't you betrothed to Pansy before anyway?" Hermione said, looking out of the bedroom window which was enchanted to look like a beautiful cliff and waterfall. Much like the one in the portrait of Aphrodite.

She was sure she'd read about the betrothal it in the Daily Prophet at one point.

"That's different," he said coldly. "She's a Slytherin."

"As opposed to marrying a mudblood," Hermione said quietly, keeping her eyes on the pounding water.

"You know, I'm not exactly thrilled about this either, Malfoy. But we have to do it because I don't particularly want my wand snapped."

"Well, you'd be all right, your Muggle-born," he said, still looking at the bedroom wall.

"That doesn't mean anything," Hermione said, fuming, spinning around to look at him. "Let's get one thing straight, Malfoy. I'm a witch, I've got just as much magic as you. Just because both of your parent's are magical, doesn't make you any different than me. You wouldn't last five minutes in the Muggle world. I bet you don't even know what a telephone is! So if we're going to be married, you will drop all your prejudice's about my heritage or I might actually murder you in your sleep!" she ranted, shocking the hell out of Draco.

"All right, fine, whatever," he said, rolling his eyes. "And just so you know, I don't particularly give a damn about you being a Muggle born," he told her sincerely.

Hermione stared at him, her mouth gaped like a fish.

"So why, for seven years, did you constantly need to remind me how I'm so inferior to you? Making me feel like I'm not worth the mud on your shoes? Calling me a mudblood every time you see me?"

"My father," he said simply. "You wouldn't understand, Granger. Having been raised all my life to think of Muggles and Muggle-borns like that. And in my house, if you thought any different, then it would be the Crucsiatus curse," Draco said shrugging as though it was nothing.

Hermione was silent for a moment. She kind of felt sorry for him. He had gotten tortured for having different beliefs to his father. That was so horrible. She knew what it was like to be under the Crucsiatus curse, but to think having being tortured like it your whole life. It was awful.

Hermione felt the need to say something, but she didn't.

"Do you want to look through that catalogue McGonagall was talking about? It's only half six, after all," Draco said, standing from his seat on the bed, breaking the awkward silence.

"Sure," Hermione agreed, nodding and both of them walked into the living room.

It was weird for the both of them. Hermione hadn't spoken to Draco since she, Harry and Ron had been captured and taken to Malfoy Manor when they were on the run, and Hermione was tortured to unconsciousness in front of Draco by Bellatrix Lestrange, who was in fact, his aunt.

Sitting down on the sofa's, they started looking through the catalogue.

Nearly two hours later, they had decided what they wanted for each of the rooms.

For the bathroom, they were going for a simple cream colour. Nothing too flashy. For the babies room, they settled for a pale blue colour, considering they didn't know what it was going to be.

The living room, they had decided on a deep purple and vibrant blue for the kitchen.

The bedroom was hardest to decide, because they kept arguing on what they wanted.

"I want brown," Hermione insisted again.

"Well I want cream!" Draco snapped.

"Oh, so everything you say goes, does it?" Hermione said coldly.

"Pretty much, yeah. Get used to it, Granger," Draco said just as coldly.

Practically growling, Hermione was about to speak when an idea popped into her head suddenly, causing her to grin like a mad man.

"I have an idea," she told him.

"There's a surprise," Draco muttered.

Ignoring his jibe, she continued.

"How about we have two of the walls cream and two of the walls chocolate brown?"

Draco thought for a moment. He hated to admit it, but the though didn't sound that bad.

"Not a bad idea, Granger," he said, writing it down on the parchment. After writing down the colours of the

furniture they wanted, they were done.

"Finally," Draco muttered, stretching on the sofa.

"I thought it was going to magically transform into what we wanted?" Hermione looked around her, seeing

everything was still white.

"It will probably do it over night, when we're not here. Is that everything?" Draco said, sighing.

Hermione thought for a moment.

"Well, we still need to set the pass word. Any idea's?" Hermione said.

"I had been thinking about that, to be honest. I thought maybe Eros and Psyche would be good," Draco said, shrugging.

"As in, Aphrodite's son Eros and the human girl he fell in love with?" Hermione said, raising her eyebrows. She didn't think Malfoy would know that.

Draco smiled lightly.

"Ah, so you're familiar with the legend then?" he said, closing his eyes as he rested against the back of the sofa.

"I read about it when I was younger. Greek mythology fascinates me," Hermione admitted.

"Why am I not surprised?" Draco said, not opening his eyes.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione snapped, picking up the quill, dipping it in the pot of ink and writing '_Eros and Psyche'_ down below the list of their requirements.

Draco stood up, looking down at her with a blank look in his eye.

Hermione didn't like that look. Just moments ago, he'd seemed calm, natural. He seemed human.

Well, of course he was human, but Hermione had never seen him so … relaxed as he had been sitting back on the sofa, eyes closed, a small smile of content on his lips, as though he was remembering something happy.

"Are we done here?" he said coldly.

It was like he'd snapped back to his old self. For those few seconds, he'd almost been a different person.

"Well, we do need to talk about … you know, us," Hermione said hesitantly.

"What about us?" Draco said in a bored tone.

"Well, we are getting married," she hissed. She suddenly felt pissed off all of a sudden.

"We do need to arrange things," she all but growled.

He rolled his eyes at her as though it meant nothing.

Hermione gave him one last glare before standing up and storming out of the dorm, leaving an amused Draco behind.

She muttered to herself about idiotic, good for nothing Slytherin's

all the way to the Gryffindor Tower, which wasn't far from the 'Family Wing', as they were both on the seventh floor.

It seemed, Ron, Harry and Ginny were all waiting for her in the common room when she stormed through the

portrait hole.

"What did he do to you?" Ron fumed.

"I refuse to marry that egoistical, insufferable, arrogant fool!" she said loudly, flumping down into an armchair.

Every one looked at her in stunned silence. Yes, they had seen Hermione in a temper before, but nothing usually ticked her off this much.

"He's so bloody annoying! I cannot believe I have to marry that man! He's been nothing but cold to me all evening. Then when he said to me, 'are we done?' And I said, 'well, we do have to talk about us' … and do you know what he said?" she said this all in one breath in a very un-Hermionie-ish way.

"Er, no?" said Harry, completely baffled.

"He said 'What about us?' completely disinterested. So I told him we're getting married! We need to arrange things! Then I

stormed out. He is such a ... such a Slytherin!" she huffed, crossing her arms, annoyed vigorously.

Everyone was silent for a minute.

"So - er, I take it thing's are going well between you and Malfoy?" Ginny smirked at her best friend.

"Shut up, Gin," Hermione moaned, chucking a cushion at her, which Ginny dodged with her Quidditch reflexes.

"I'm just playing with you, 'Mione," she laughed.

"Yeah I know it's just ... I've gone from hating him for so long, to all of a sudden finding out I'm to marry him and give him not only one but two children. Not to mention the fact that I have to spend the rest of my life with him," she sighed miserably.

"Well, you know we're always here for you, Hermione," Harry said, reaching over to pat her knee.

"Yeah, and on the plus side... he's drop dead gorgeous," Ginny winked.

"Gin!" she and Ron said at the same time.

"What, he is," she said, rolling her eyes.

They were quiet for a little while.

"Oh, how inconsiderate of me," Hermione said suddenly, snapping her gaze away from the blazing fire to look at

her friends. "How are things with you three and your new fiancé's?"

"Well," Ginny started, "Blaise is a lot better than I thought he'd be, considering he's a Slytherin. In fact, he barely even act's like a Slytherin. He's really polite and caring. When we were deciding on what to decorate, every time he saw something he liked, he would make sure over and over again if I liked it too, just to be sure. And on a plus side, he's gorgeous. And when we have kids, I'm going to have a mixed race baby!" she said, a broody look in her eye.

"You shouldn't be thinking about stuff like that, Ginny!" Ron said sharply.

"Ron, have you even read that leaflet? On the night of the wedding, we have to validate the marriage. With no

contraception. And I need to have a baby before the eighteen months is up or my wand is going to be snapped in half," Ginny said in exasperation. Her brother was such a prude sometimes.

"I know, but still ... I don't want to hear my little sister talking about stuff like that ... especially not about a

Slytherin," Ron muttered.

"He's not like most Slytherins. He's really nice. I actually think you three would get along like a house on fire,"

Ginny said, smiling.

"What about you, Harry? How's thing's with you and Pansy?" Hermione asked, turning to look at him.

"She hates me," Harry grinned, like it was the best thing in the world.

"And that's a good thing?" Ginny asked incredulously.

"No, obviously not ... but I like the chase," Harry winked, laughing lightly. "Nah, she's all right, really. Get's touchy at everything you say, is extremely defensive, but she can keep up her side of a conversation, which I didn't expect," Harry said, smiling.

Hermione turned to look expectantly at Ron.

"Oh, yeah, me and Luna are great. At first it was a little awkward, when we looked at the babies room. You know, because we're good friends, and we have to have sex, but she's really great. Still goes on about her wrackspurts or whatever they're called, but it's kinda interesting, I suppose," Ron said, his face turning bright red.

"Great, so I'm the only one who can't stand her fiancé. Great, just great," Hermione moaned.

"Maybe thing's will get better? You might learn to get along? Maybe even start to fancy him," Ginny waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Don't count on it, Gin," she chuckled before yawning and standing up. "I'm going to hit the hay, it's been a long day, and I just want to get some rest."

"Hit what hay?" Ron asked, frowning.

"Er, it's a Muggle expression. It means go to sleep," Harry explained and understanding dawned on both Ginny's

and Ron's faces.

"Okay, night, Hermione, sleep well," Ginny said, giving her friend a hug. "Don't worry, everything will get better, I can feel it," she whispered in Hermione's ear.

"I hope so, Gin, I really do," she whispered back before pulling away from the hug, giving Harry and Ron a quick hug then walking up the stairs to find Lavender, Parvati and Eloise fast asleep in their beds.

Quickly changing into her pajama's, Hermione fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

_End Authors Note. _

_I hope you all enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed writing it. _

_So I'm loving Hermione/Draco pairings at the moment. I used to read them before, but not as much as I do now. So if anyone knows any good fics, let me know and I'll check them out._

_Thank you ;D x_


	3. Chapter Three

A:N: Hello again dears! I hope you've all had a good week? I have! I would like to wish a 'Happy Mother's day' to any mum's who are reading this… not sure if there are any, but yeah(:

I would like to thank all who reviewed last chapter. I replied to every one, except the one's who have disabled the private messaging feature, so I'll reply to those at the bottom.

I would just like to ask, does anyone think I need a Beta? I've been thinking about it for a while, but I'm in two minds about getting one. Let me know!

Any way, read on, darlings!

Chapter Three:

Thursday 3rd September 1998. (words: 2545)

When Hermione woke the next morning, it wasn't by her alarm clock, but by her room mates, Lavender, Parvati and Eloise rushing around, packing up their things.

"What time is it?" Hermione asked as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Seven o'clock. You best hurry up and pack your things before you get ready. They're going to take our stuff to our new flats when we're in class and unless you want them leaving anything behind, I suggest you pack yourself," Lavender said, muttering.

The two of them hadn't exactly been on good terms since sixth year, when Ron was dating Lavender, but had

unexpectedly broke up with her when he had gotten poisoned (funnily enough by Draco, though it was not

intended for him) and in his sleep, he'd muttered Hermione's name over and over instead of Lavender's.

Getting out of bed, Hermione dragged her trunk out from underneath her bed and grabbed her wand from the

bedside table.

"Accio books," she muttered, watching all of her books fly out from here there and everywhere and land on her bed.

After shrinking them and putting them in her trunk, she did the same to her clothes (except her school robes and clean underwear for the day) and her personal belongings. Within half an hour, she was done.

She then proceeded to have a quick shower before spelling her hair dry and into loose curls (thankfully, her hair was no longer frizzy and bushy, but had grown into light ringlets) and changing into her school uniform.

She grabbed her rucksack and went down to the common room with the other three, who immediately left for breakfast.

"'Mione," Ginny called from behind her as she made her way over to the portrait hole.

"Oh, hey, Ginny," she said, turning around.

"How are you feeling today?" Ginny asked as they left the Gryffindor tower.

"A lot better, thanks. I feel so embraced for how I reacted yesterday. I completely over reacted about things. Do you

think I should apologize to Malfoy?" Hermione said, frowning. She'd done a lot of thinking in the shower. She did have a habit for over-reacting.

"No! You had every right to be pissed off. You need to plan your wedding. After all, you only have twenty-eight days exactly till it's your deadline," Ginny said fairly. "Speaking of your wedding, have you written to your parent's yet, explaining what's happened?"

"Ohmygosh. I completely forgot all about my parents! What are they going to think?" Hermione said, panicking.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll understand. I'm heading to the owlery now to write mum and dad a letter, seeing as

it's still early. Wanna come with me?" Ginny offered.

"Yes, thank you," Hermione smiled and they rushed to the owlery.

Once they'd climbed the many steps, both Hermione and Ginny pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill and a pot of ink and sat down on the floor to write their letters.

Hermione sat there for a few minutes, unsure what to write.

But once she got started, it wasn't hard to write it, like she'd thought it would be.

It read:

_"Dear mum and dad,_

_I know it's only the second day in, and I'm already writing to you, but I just ... had to._

_How are you both? _

_I just thought I'd let you know ... well, I don't quite know how to put it, actually. _

_Last night, a law in the wizarding world was passed. It's called 'The Marriage Law.' Basically, anyone from the age of 17 to 45 has been arranged by the ministry to be married to someone of their choice. Crazy, I know. The reason for it though, is reasonable._

_We need to repopulate. Ever since the war, our numbers have dwindle extremely, and if we don't pair up, the _

_wizards in Britain may become extinct. _

_So anyway, yesterday I found out who I was to marry. His name is Draco Malfoy. He's in my year at Hogwarts, though in a different house than me. He's in Slytherin. Do you remember me telling you about the houses? Well, we've never exactly been friends, well actually, we've practically hated each other since we were both eleven, but that's not the point._

_If we do not get married, then we will be banished from the wizarding world and our wands will be snapped. I _

_must have conceived a child within eighteen months and a second child within five years. It's absolutely insane, but it is necessary. Any way, I must be married to him by the end of the month, and I would very much like it for you to be there. I will arrange for you to get to Hogwarts where the ceremony will take place, and I'd very much appreciate it if you came, for moral support. _

_I'm unaware of the exact date yet, but once I find out, I'll let you know immediately. I know this may come as a shock, but I hope you will trust me in this._

_I love you both and I'll see you soon, hopefully?_

_Love,_

_Hermione."_

"Geesh, Hermione, you writing an essay there?" Ginny laughed, tying her letter to a barn owl.

"It's just ... harder to explain to them that it would be to your parents. Your mum and dad read the Daily Prophet, it's bound to be in there. They would have been informed easily. But my mum and dad are so cut off from the wizarding world, they barely know anything about it," Hermione said, shrugging as she tied her letter to a pure black owl. She watched her's and Ginny's 'owls' fly through the huge window with a sigh.

She hoped her parent's would understand. She need's them.

"You ready to go? Might be able to fit a slice of toast in before class," Ginny said, linking her arm through

Hermione's as she looked at her wristwatch. It read: 8:30. Classes didn't start for another half an hour, meaning they had a little bit of time to squeeze some breakfast in.

As they trudged back through the grounds towards the school, they talked about their futures.

"You know, it's going to be so weird, not being a Weasley anymore," Ginny said. "I should have expected this, you

know, with getting married normally. But having a Slytherin as a husband, no matter how yummy he is, it's going to take a while to get used to it."

"What if our children get put in Slytherin?" Hermione said suddenly, looking worried.

"Then Slytherin will have gained wonderful students," Ginny reassured her friend as they entered the Great Hall.

Hermione's eyes automatically went to the Slytherin table where she saw Draco sipping a cup of tea. When she and Ginny walked in, he looked up and placed his tea down on the table. He gave her a slight nod in greeting before continuing with his breakfast.

Letting out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, she made her way over to the Gryffindor table with Ginny.

The day passed quickly, which Hermione was surprised at, considering she was dreading later today when she would officially move into her new flat with Malfoy.

When Hermione was finishing up her dinner, a miserable look on her face, her head snapped up suddenly when someone coughed from beside her.

Her eyes widened when she saw it was Draco, standing next to her awkwardly with half the Gryffindor table staring at him.

"You ready?" he said silkily.

"For what?" she said stupidly.

"To fly to the moon," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "To go move into our apartment, Granger."

"Oh - right," she said, standing up, blushing furiously.

"You know, Malfoy, you really need to start calling her Hermione. After all, she isn't going to be a Granger for much longer," Ginny smirked.

"And I suppose you're going to say I can't call you Weaslette for much longer, either?" he snapped.

"Her name is Ginny, Draco," Blaise said, coming up from behind them. "And no, you can't call her that anymore. It'll have to be Zabini," Blaise joked, causing Ginny to giggle.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione turned to Draco.

"Come on, Malfoy, let's go before all hell lets loose," she said, chuckling slightly.

As they walked off, a voice came from behind them.

"And you have to stop calling him Malfoy, too, Hermione!" Ginny had called to them.

Looking over her shoulder, Hermione glared at her friend.

They walked to their new apartment in silence, not knowing what to say to one another.

When they entered the bedroom, Hermione saw her's and Draco's trunks, a large, eagle-owl in a cage and

Crookshanks in his pet carrier by the bed.

Sighing, she walked over to her trunk and flipped it open. 'Better get it over with' she thought. Nearly an hour and a half later, Hermione put her last book on the bookshelf in the living-room and practically collapsed on the sofa.

Malfoy walked in and sat on the opposite sofa to her, just looking at her silently.

"Can I help you?" she said, noticing his gaze.

"You were right yesterday," he said quietly.

"About what?" she said, frowning.

"About having to talk about the wedding. We're getting married in less than a month, and we need to sort out the finer details ... plus..." he said, trailing off, looking uncomfortable.

"Plus?" Hermione said, urging him to continue.

"I think we should call a truce between us," he said very quickly.

Hermione didn't know what to say. Draco Malfoy, a boy who'd detested her for many years, wanted a truce? This was just not normal.

"You want a truce? With me, of all people?" she said, surprised.

"Oh, don't sound so shocked, Granger. We do have to spend the rest of our lives together, after all. What's the point in hating each other for the next 90 years or so? And also, I don't want that for our kids. Being raised in a family that is so full of hate," he said almost silently.

"Wow, you know, I never thought you'd be the paternal type, Malfoy," Hermione joked lightly. He didn't laugh

along, though. Awkward.

"Yeah, well, I know what it's like to grow up with your parent's hating each other, knowing that the only reason your there in the first place is because they were forced to get married. Not having a parent give a shit about you," he said coldly. "It's not a nice feeling for a child," he added a little more softly.

Hermione instantly felt bad. Who knew that the spoilt brat that was Draco Malfoy, just wanted a little T.L.C?

"You know, that makes me feel like shit, when you put things like that," she told him quietly.

"Why's that?" he asked, confused.

"Well, you've grown up with no love and support, whereas my parents still love each other now just as much as they did when they first fell in love. And they've done nothing but love and be there for me as I grew up. It just makes you think about life, you know?" she explained, not daring to look him in the eye.

He was silent for a bit.

"That's what I want for my children. You know, I vowed to myself when I was younger, that if I was ever privileged to have the gift of children, I'd be everything to them that my father wasn't to me," he said quietly.

This must be hard for him. He didn't seem like the type of person who willingly shared his emotions.

"I understand that, Malfoy," Hermione said, smiling lightly at him.

"You know, Blaise was right, we really need to start calling each other by our first names," Draco said, the corner's of his mouth turning up in a light smile.

"I agree, Mal- er, Draco," she stuttered, not being used to calling him Draco out loud.

"Now, how about we talk about, you know... our wedding, Hermione?" he said, cringing slightly as he said it.

"Good idea. We should start with a guest list. We don't want it too big, considering it's to be done here at Hogwarts. Just friends and family," she said, getting into her 'study mode'.

"It'll just be my mother coming, because father is in Azkaban, and I don't particularly want him there either. And as for friends, it'll just be Blaise, Pansy, Theo and Goyle," he said simply.

"We should put a plus one on the invitation, so they can bring their other half's if they choose too. As for me, it will be both my parents, hopefully, then all the Weasleys if they can make it, Harry, Luna, Neville, Dean and Seamus,"

Hermione said, grabbing a piece of parchment, ink and a quill to write it down.

"We'll just have simple decorations, like fairy lights, flowers, you know, stuff like that. Then you need your dress and my dress robes and that's it, really," Draco said, leaning back in his seat.

"I'll ask Professor McGonagall if Ginny and I can go to Diagon Alley to get our dresses like, a week before the

wedding," Hermione said thoughtfully. Then something dawned on her. "What day are we doing the wedding?"

Draco thought for a moment, until a small smile came onto his face.

"What?" she said when he looked at her.

"Your birthday... it's on the 19th of this month, isn't it?" he said suddenly, shocking her.

"How do you know that?" she asked, surprised.

He shrugged in a nonchalant way.

"Know thy enemy," he said, chuckling. "I'm rather observant when I want to be."

"Oh, right. Any way, why'd you ask?" she asked.

"It's a Saturday, I think. Perhaps, we should have the wedding on your birthday?" he said curiously.

She thought for a second, utterly flabbergasted by this whole experience. She was planning her wedding. At the age of 18.

"Sounds like a good idea," she said, shrugging. "I'll book it with Professor McGonagall tomorrow after Transfiguration. Now, if that's all, I'm going to bed," she said, gathering her roles of parchment and placing them in a neat, tidy pile.

"Good night, Gra- Hermione. I'll er - join you in a little while," Draco said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Okay," she said nervously before walking into the bedroom.

She'd have to share a bed with Draco Malfoy. Good lord, they go from having no physical contact to sharing the same bed. Well, in sixteen days, they would be doing more than sleeping in this bed. Hermione wanted to shudder at the thought of sleeping with Draco, but she couldn't bring herself to, for some odd reason.

Changing into her spaghetti-strapped, white pajama top and lilac silk bottoms, she brushed her teeth and climbed into the huge bed, looking up at the canopy in silence.

Less than ten minutes later, Draco walked in silently, and changed in to nothing but silk green panamas bottoms.

They both laid there, on there backs stiffly.

"This is so weird," Hermione murmured.

"You think?" he joked. "But we have to get used to it, I suppose."

"Yeah I know," she sighed, before rolling onto her side, facing away from him. "Good night, Draco," she whispered.

"Goodnight, Hermione," he replied.

(End Authors Note) … I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I know it's not exactly long, but it's just a chapter to get the story moving along, I suppose. Yes, Draco is a little out of character, calling a truce with Hermione, but I just see Draco as the type to want a good future for his children, considering he had a rubbish childhood.

Next chapter will be up next Saturday/Sunday, hopefully. Also, if there are any error's of any kind, please point it out, and I will try to fix it… though at the moment, isn't letting me edit my stories. Well, it's letting me edit it, but it just doesn't save what I edit, if that makes sense?

Reply's to reviews:

**Teamrosalie21137:** thank you for the recommendation of the story! Do you know the Author? Because will not let me search for stories! It's only letting me search Author's at the moment. I think the system might be down or something.

And it will be a while till he drops his attitude. In this chapter, he seems to have toned it down a little, but there's still more to come! As they say, old habits die hard! Thanks for the review! And also, you asked about my Icon … I got the picture of Tom Felton of google. Go onto google images, then type in Tom Felton … I think the picture I have is either on the fourth or fifth page. Then I added his name myself using . Hope this helps!


	4. Chapter Four

A:n: So I'm back, as promised!

Not entirely happy, though. I only got seven reviews for last chapter. I know that sounds really ungrateful, but you should see the amount of people that have put this story on alert and favorites. The amount is nearly triple the amount of reviews I've received.

So please, just drop a little review? It really does give me inspiration! You can give me ideas, ask questions, or just moan how you want Draco and Hermione to jump in to bed with one another!

That's all I ask.

Anyway, once again, disclaimer is on my profile… so don't sue me ;) as much as I love playing with Draco, he's not mine L.

Don't forget to check out my twitter and blog! Links are on my profile!

Chapter Four. 

Friday 4th. September 1998. (Words: 3562.)

When Hermione woke the next morning, the sun was shining through the curtains brightly.

Groaning slightly, she went to sit up, but couldn't move because something was holding her down.

Looking down at her body, she noticed Draco sprawled across her, still fast asleep. His head was on her chest, and his left arm was spread out across the rest of her body, pinning her arms down.

How could she have not noticed him there before? Hermione blushed when she noticed she too, was curled in towards him.

"Great," she sighed, trying to move Draco off her. But every time she pushed him, he only cuddled her closer towards him. Within five minutes, she was flush against his body, blushing like a fool.

How can he still be asleep?

"Draco?" she said hesitantly. She couldn't even tap him, because her arms were still pinned to her sides. "Er - Draco? Can you wake up, please?" Still no movement.

"Oh this is getting ridiculous..." she muttered, huffing.

"DRACO!" she shouted, causing him to start awake.

"Merlin, Granger, no need to shout," he moaned, burying his head in the crook of her neck, trying to block out the sunlight.

"Er, can you get off me now?" she said, annoyed.

Pulling his head back slowly, as though he'd just realized he was snuggling with her, he had a blank look on his face. "Granger, why are you so close to me?" he asked, glaring slightly.

"For your information, it is you who's so close to me," she huffed. "I woke up with you practically lying on me," she told him.

"Preposterous. Your lying," he accused. Why wouldn't he just move, already?

"Er, Draco, your the one who's on my side of the bed, and is still laying on me, pinning my arms to the side so I can't move!" she said, flaring up instantly.

He looked down at the two of them and smirked.

"So I am," he chuckled darkly.

"Why have you got that look in your eye?" Hermione said nervously, and noticed he was still right up against her, pinning her arms to her sides.

"What look?" he said too innocently.

"That look!" she said, glaring at him. Before she knew what was happening, he began to tickle her, hard.

"Dr-Dra-Draco," she gasped out, giggling. "Stop it!"

"What's the magic word?" he smirked, now straddling her, pinning her arms down with his legs, tickling her sides.

"P-please!" she laughed, trying to wriggle away from him.

"Say Draco Malfoy is so incredibly handsome and I'm so lucky to have him as a fiancé," he said, still tickling her.

"No!" she said stubbornly, trying and failing to get out of his grasp. Why was he making her say it?

"Fine, looks like we'll have to miss out on Transfiguration so I can tickle you all day," Draco smirked.

"No! Fine, all right, all right, I'll say it!" she gasped. "D-Draco Malfoy is so incredibly handsome and I'm so lucky to have him as a fiancé," she said glaring up at him.

"There, that wasn't so hard, now was it?" he smirked, raising his hands from her sides.

"Your such a prick," she snapped playfully, shoving him off her before jumping out of bed and bolting to the bathroom, him following close behind her.

"Aw, C'mon, Granger, let me shower first!" he said, banging on the locked door.

"No!" she yelled through the door, turning the shower on.

"I hate you, Granger!" he yelled back, annoyed. He always got to shower first. He took longer than she did. She didn't even do anything with her hair!

"I hate you too!" she snapped back. The happy mood was gone all of a sudden.

Fifteen minutes later, Hermione turned off the tap and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her waist and grabbing another one to dry her hair slightly.

Looking around herself in panic, she realized she'd forgotten to pick up her school uniform and clean underwear to change into, meaning she had to walk out there and face Malfoy in nothing but a towel. Great.

Taking a deep breath, she turned the Muggle lock and opened the door, to find Draco stood on the other side, glaring at her furiously.

"You took your time," he snapped, before noticing she was only wearing a towel and looking her up and down.

'Typical boy' Hermione thought.

"Sorry," she snapped, barging past him and walking towards the bedroom. Just before she turned into the little corridor that lead to the bedroom, Draco's voice stopped her.

"Hey Granger," he called, causing her to stop. She looked over her shoulder with a questioning look.

"Yeah?"

He smirked at her slightly. "Nice legs," he winked before walking into the bathroom and closing the door.

Blushing furiously, she glared at the spot he'd been standing moments ago before walking into the bedroom.

45 minutes later, they were both ready, and after Hermione double checked she had everything, they left to got to breakfast.

After Draco's outburst of tickling her earlier, things had become extremely awkward between them. They weren't used to civilized behavior from one another. Then things had taken the nasty turn when Hermione got in the shower before Draco, and they snapped at each other for a bit, but then it went back to okay after Draco commented her legs. Merlin was Hermione confused.

Did he have a personality disorder or what?

Once they entered the Great Hall, Draco said goodbye to Hermione and left to go to Slytherin table and Hermione to Gryffindor.

"Good morning," everyone said, and Hermione was shocked to see Blaise sitting next to Ginny, eating his breakfast.

Things must be going alright for those two then.

"Good morning, every one," she smiled, grabbing some toast and buttering it.

"How are you this morning?" Harry asked, looking curiously towards Slytherin table where Draco sat then back to Hermione.

"I'm just fine," she said, rolling her eyes. "Why, are you expecting me to murder Malfoy by the end of the week?"

"To be honest, I didn't think you would last this long... I thought by the end of the first night when you found out you were marrying him," Ron laughed.

"It's not funny... you all seem to be getting along with your spouses, whereas Draco and I have hated each other for so long, it's hard not to act hostile towards him," she sighed, taking a deep sip of a cup of tea.

"You'll get used to it, Hermione. I though that was going to be the same between me and Blaise, but we're all right, aren't we?" Ginny said, looking at Blaise for confirmation.

"Yeah, course we are. Draco's actually not a bad bloke once you get to know him. He's very protective," Blaise said added.

"I doubt he's going to be protective over me," Hermione said skeptically.

Just then, the morning post arrived, and hundreds of owls came swooping into the great hall, dropping letter's and parcels to their owners.

Hermione spotted the owl that she'd used to send her parent's a letter flying towards her and drop a letter addressed to her on her now half empty plate.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at the bird. This must be her parent's reply.

Ripping open the envelope, Hermione began to read:

_"Dear Hermione, _

_We are both fine, how are you dear? Keeping yourself out of trouble?_

_This came as a huge shock to us. We cannot say that we are happy about this, but if is your decision to go through with this, then we shall be here for you. We don't like that you are marrying some one who you do not like, and that you only have a month to marry and a year and a half to conceive a child._

_Are you sure you are ready to become a parent? Your only eighteen, after all._

_We understand the reason's why your Ministry are doing this, but is it really necessary to force you into marriage?_

_But no matter what, if you want us to be at your wedding for support, we will, but it doesn't mean we have to like it. _

_Please let us know the date of the wedding and the arrangements for how we are getting to the venue. _

_We love you Hermione, and we trust you, no matter what._

_Love, _

_Mum and Dad."_

Well, she knew that was coming. She knew they'd be disappointed in her for going through with this. They may not have out right said it, but she knew they meant it.

She hated disappointing her parents, but she didn't fight in the war just for the wizarding world to become extinct. She needed to do this. She had to produce magical children to help repopulate.

"What's that, Mione?" Harry asked, looking at her.

"I wrote to my letter to let them know what's going on. There not exactly pleased about it," she said, smiling sadly.

"Oh, Mione. I'm sure they are fine with it. It's just the shock, I expect," Ginny said, reaching over the table to pat her hand.

"I know. It's just, I hate disappointing them, you know?" she said, folding the letter up and putting it in her bag. She would reply later on.

"Your not disappointing them, Granger. You've been the top of our year every year since first year. You helped save the world by defeating Voldemort. How on earth could they be disappointed in you?" Blaise said logically.

"Zabini's right. If anything, they're extremely proud of you," Ron said, shocking the hell out of everyone.

"Ronald Weasley, did you just agree with a Slytherin?" Hermione said, faking a shocked expression.

"Yes," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "Don't get too used to it."

They all laughed, and the bell from the clock tower rang loudly, indicating that it was time for class.

"Oh, I forgot to say. Draco and I have decided to have the wedding on my birthday," Hermione said as they rose from their seats. "Ginny, I'm going to ask if you and I can go dress shopping the week before. Luna can come, too if she wants."

They began walking towards the doors.

"That will be great," Ginny said, beaming. "See you all later," she said, giving everyone a hug (Blaise pecking her on the cheek) before running of to Muggle Studies.

As they made their way towards Transfiguration, Harry turned to Hermione.

"Hey, maybe you should take Pansy with you too?" he said, talking about there shopping trip. "It'll give you a chance to bond."

"I'll ask her... not sure she'll want to though," Hermione said hesitantly.

As they waited outside Transfiguration, Hermione and Harry walked up to Pansy, who was stood next to Daphne, talking.

"Pansy, Ginny, Luna and I might be going dress shopping next Saturday, you could come with us, if you like?" she said calmly as Pansy and Daphne stopped talking to look at them.

"And what gave you the Idea that I would want to go?" she snapped.

"I mentioned it. Considering we're getting married, it would be good if you could get along with my friends," Harry told her sharply.

Rolling her eyes at the mention of their marriage, she spoke again.

"Fine, whatever. It gives me the chance to get out. But only if Daphne and Astoria comes, too," she said coldly, and Daphne nodded.

"Yeah that's fine," Hermione said. "Well, I'm going to ask McGonagall after class, then I'll let you know."

"Yeah, whatever," Pansy said, turning away from them.

The class went so slow, Hermione thought she might just loose it. She'd already read the whole book, and today's lesson was reading a chapter about Animagi.

Instead of reading, Hermione thought. She thought about everything that had happened over the past few days. She thought about her future. She thought about what her children would look like. If they would have her curly brown hair, or Draco's platinum blonde. But most of all, she thought about her future husband.

For some strange, unknown reason, she couldn't stop thinking about him. She thought about the way he looked, the way he'd acted with her this morning, the way the muscle's rippled on his back when he wrote, she thought about his body (which she didn't do much of, because she couldn't stop blushing) and mainly, she wondered if she could ever find love in the man she'd hated for so long.

When the bell rang, indicating the end of the class, Hermione was snapped out of her thoughts.

She gathered her things and shoved them all in her bag before rushing up to the teacher's desk.

"Professor?" she said, causing Professor McGonagall's head to jerk up.

"If your going to complain about your fiancé, I've already told you, Miss Granger, there is nothing I can do," Professor McGonagall sighed.

"It's not that Professor. I just thought I'd let you know that Draco and I decided to have our wedding on my birthday. The 19th of this month," Hermione said nervously. It was weird. Draco and I. Whenever she said it it sent strange tingling sensations down her stomach.

"Wonderful," McGonagall said, pulling out a piece of parchment before scribbling it down. "Anything else?" she said, when she saw Hermione was still there.

"Yes, well, I was wondering if you could give Ginny, Luna, Pansy, Daphne, Astoria and I permission to leave the school on the 12th. To go dress shopping," she added hastily when she saw Professor McGonagall's curious look.

The Headmistress hummed, thinking.

"I don't see a problem with that, Miss Granger. I will arrange it all. On the morning of the 12th, come to my office at ten o'clock with the others and I shall inform you of how you will be getting there," Professor McGonagall said before noticing her second years standing outside, waiting to come in.

"Now, of you go to your next class. You don't want to be late," she said, before following Hermione out of the class.

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said before rushing off to her Potion's class.

She was five minutes late when she came bounding into the room.

"Ah, Miss Granger, nice of you to join us," said Professor Zabini, smiling at her. The whole class had turned to stare at her, and Hermione noticed Draco was smirking at her. "Tut, tut," he mouthed at her.

"Sorry I'm late, sir. I had to speak to Professor McGonagall about something," she apologized.

"It's not a problem, Miss Granger. Now, I have paired everyone up for the rest of term. Your partner, Miss Granger, is Mister Malfoy. Please take a seat," he said, smiling at her once more.

Great. Not only did she have to live with him, spend the rest of her life with him and have his children, but now she had to be his Potion's partner, too.

She walked slowly over to Draco and placed her bag on the floor.

"Now, the Potion you are going to be concocting today is the Wolfsbane potion. The instructions are on the board and more information about the potion is on page 78 of your text books," Professor Zabini instructed. "Any ingredients you need will be in the store cupboard."

Draco walked silently over to the store cupboard with half the rest of the class while Hermione set up their cauldron.

When he returned, they began chopping up the wolfsbane plant.

"What did you have to talk to McGonagall about?" Draco asked as he sliced up some herbs.

"I booked the wedding. And I also asked if Ginny, Luna, Pansy, Daphne, Astoria and I can go dress shopping on the 12th," Hermione said as she stirred the potion counter clockwise as Draco added the powdered root of Asphodel.

"Pansy, Daphne and Astoria?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah, Harry thought it would be a good idea to invite Pansy. So we can 'bond'. But she wouldn't come unless Daphne and Astoria came too, so there you are," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"That's Pansy for you. Those three are joined at the hip," Draco commented.

"Kind of like Ginny and I then," Hermione commented.

"Hmm, I suppose," Draco hummed.

"I thought maybe she was doing it for stability, you know," Hermione said, adding lacewing flies.

"Why would you think that?" Draco asked, looking at her curiously.

"Well, she'd be going head first into the Lion's den," Hermione said. "Except Luna isn't a Gryffindor. But she is still a close friend, though. I just thought that maybe Pansy would want some fellow Slytherins around her, to make her feel safer," Hermione said, shrugging.

"That's a valid point, too, I suppose," Draco said, shrugging.

Smiling lightly at him, they continued with their potion in silence.

That night, Hermione sat down on the sofa and began to write her reply to her parent's.

When she was done, she re-read it:

_"Dear mum and dad,_

_I am fine, I suppose. Yes, I am staying out of trouble do not worry._

_I know you are disappointed in me, but it is my choice to help the wizarding world. I did not fight in the war and loose lots of friends for nothing._

_I know, it is a bit of a shock that I have to give birth to a child within a year and a half, but it is going to be fine. I have all my friends here to support me, and I know you will too_.

_Draco and I have called a truce, and hopefully in time, I will learn to love him like you love each other._

_We have decided to have the wedding on my birthday. It was Draco's idea. Isn't that nice?_

_The arrangements are that on the morning of the wedding, one of the teacher's will Apparate to our house to collect you then bring you back by Portkey. _

_The wedding is being held here, at Hogwarts at 1:30. So I will send the teacher who is coming to collect you about an hour or so before. Afterwards, we are having a little reception, nothing too fancy, but if you would like, you can stay for that and be Apparated home after? _

_I love you both and thank you for being here for me._

_Love, _

_Hermione."_

Sighing, she put the letter in an envelope, then walked into the kitchen, where Draco was making a cup of tea.

"Hey, can I borrow your owl?" she asked, leaning against the door jam.

He turned looked over his shoulder at her.

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"To play chess with it," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "What do you think I'm going to do with it? I need to send this to my parents," she said, waving the letter around.

"Oh, right. Yeah, go for it," he said, turning back to face the kettle.

"Thank you," she said, turning to leave the room. She walked over to where Draco's owl, (Caius, she thought it was called) and tied the letter to it's leg.

"Can you take this letter to my parents?" she asked and the owl hooted.

"Thank you," Hermione smiled as it flew out of the open window.

Draco walked in then and placed two cups of tea on the coffee table.

"Is that for me?" she said, pointing to the mug Draco wasn't drinking out of.

"Yeah. Who else is it going to be for?" he snapped.

"Twat," she snapped, before grabbing her cup and homework and storming into the bedroom.

Two hours later, Hermione and Draco were both in the bedroom, getting ready for bed.

"I'm sorry," he said almost silently.

"Your what?" Hermione asked in shock.

"I'm sorry! Look, me and you, we really need to start getting along more. Because I don't think I could take it, spending the rest of my life, squabbling with you about everything," he said as they got into bed.

"I know," Hermione murmured.

"I know we haven't exactly got on in the past, but that was mainly because we were on different sides of the war. It's over now, we all need to move on," Draco said fairly in the dark.

"I agree. It's just … it's hard not to be hostile towards you. I'm so used to snapping at you all the time, it's like I don't know how to be nice to you," Hermione whispered, turning to face him.

He didn't say anything for a minute, just looked at her in silence.

"I know what you mean. But can we at least try, for our future kids sakes, and get along?" he whispered.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Hermione smiled.

"Me too. Your not as bad as I thought you were, Granger," Draco said.

"I thought we were going to drop the whole last name thing?" she chuckled.

"Old habits die hard," Draco said, shrugging.

They didn't say anything for a little while, just laying in silence. Until, "I'm going to get some sleep, now. Good night Hermione," Draco said, and before Hermione knew what was happening, he'd sat up, leant over her and kissed her on the forehead.

He stayed there, just keeping his lips pressed against her head.

"Goodnight, Draco," she whispered and he pulled back, laying back down and hesitantly pulling her into a hug.

'Maybe this wont be so bad after all' Hermione thought.

**End Authors note: **So I hope you liked it(': Some of you may think I'm rushing into it… but trust me, I'm not. They still hate each other. Their just trying to be civil.

Please, pleaaase review! I'll love you forever if you do?

**Replies to Anonymous Reviews: **

_Gaga: _Thank you(: And it is moving faster than most stories would, but that is because I don't intend on having it as a really long story. Maybe 15 chapters at the most. Not sure yet. But I don't believe it's being rushed. Or at least I hope it doesn't seem that way.

That's all for now. Next update will again, be up next Saturday or Sunday. (English times… considering I live in England! ;D)

**Review!Review!Review! **


	5. Chapter Five

(A:N). Helloo everyone! So I was going to upload this chapter last night (Saturday) but I got distracted. By Sims. In my defense, I did make a Harry Potter Sim game! ;D it was so cool!

Anyway, moving on, I would like to give a big thank you to all who reviewed. It was only last chapter that I was upset that I only got 7 reviews. Guess how many I got for chapter four? 26. That's right, 26. I was so happy! That's nearly twenty more than last chapter! Let's see if we can keep the reviews coming this chapter, shall we?

As all ways, review replies are down at the bottom, as well as a little Disclaimer.

Sorry about the long Authors note, too. I got carried away!

Read on! ;D

Chapter Five.

Saturday 5th September 1998. (Words: 3535)

When Hermione woke the next morning, she realized that not only was she again cuddled up to Draco, but today, he was awake before her, waiting patiently for her to wake up.

"Finally," he said, rolling his eyes. "My arms going to fall off if you don't move," he added, indicating to his arm, which she was laid on.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry," she gasped, sitting bolt up right. She couldn't believe it! Cuddle up to Draco Malfoy!

"Calm down, Granger, it's not the end of the world," he rolled his eyes at her, shaking his arm to get some circulation in it.

"Shut up," she said, shoving his head down onto the bed, smirking smugly when he glared at her. "What time is it, anyway?"

"Half ten," Draco yawned, stretching.

"Half ten!" Hermione shrieked, jumping out of bed. "I've got so much homework to do! Why didn't you wake me up?" she snapped at him as she wrapped her dressing gown around her body.

"Well, you'll just have to put of your home work, because we have plans today," Draco said, getting out of bed too.

"We do?" Hermione said, confused. She couldn't remember making plans.

"Yes. We're meeting mother in Hogsmeade at 11:30. Didn't I tell you?" Draco said, scratching the back of his head as he walked towards their wardrobe, pulling out clothes.

"No you didn't!" Hermione said shrilly. "How can you not tell me something like that?" She could not believe him! Not telling her something as important as this!

"I just forgot," Draco snapped. "She wrote to me yesterday asking to meet her in Hogsmeade and to bring you with me. It's all arranged, McGonagall's given us permission," he said, pulling out some clothes for Hermione.

"Er, I can dress myself, thanks," she snarled, glaring at him.

"Yes, I know, but we want you to look presentable for my mother," Draco said, putting a pair of black dress pants, a long sleeved, silk purple blouse and much to Hermione's embarrassment, he went through her underwear drawer too.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she growled, grabbing her clothes.

"Nothing, nothing! Merlin! I'm going in the shower. Get ready," he said, rolling his eyes at her before grabbing his clothes, a towel and walking out of the room.

"Idiotic moron!" she hissed at the closed door.

When Draco returned 15 minutes later, fully dressed, Hermione was just putting the finishing touches to her make up.

Her hair was in lose ringlets and her make up was light, just a bit of foundation, light brown eye shadow, eyeliner and mascara.

"Ready?" Draco said stiffly, grabbing his coat and Hermione's from the wardrobe.

"Yes," she snapped, snatching her long black coat from Draco's hand and throwing it on.

"Merlin, Granger, smile, you actually look attractive when you smile," he said, glaring at her.

Hermione blushed, taken aback. She couldn't believe her ears.

"Did _the _Draco Malfoy just pay me, a Muggle-born a compliment?" she said, smirking lightly as they out of their dorm, down the corridor, to the staircases.

Draco rolled his eyes. He did that a lot, Hermione noted.

"Don't act so surprised. We are getting married, after all."

"Oh yeah, darn. Don't remind me," she said sarcastically as they walked down the stairs.

She didn't know what it was, there was just _something _about Malfoy that infuriated her so easily.

"Ha-ha, very funny," he said as they reached the Entrance Floor.

"Ladies first," he said as they made their way out of the main doors.

"Oh, Draco, you're such a gentleman," Hermione said, rolling her eyes as she walked out.

"Well, I could have just shoved you out of the way and gone first myself," Draco smirked.

"Charming," Hermione said as they made they're way towards the school gates.

As they approached the Three Broomsticks with only minutes to spare, Hermione thought of something.

"Draco, what should I call your mother?" she whispered in a panic. Oh god, why hadn't she thought of that before?

"Just call her Mrs. Malfoy," he told her. "And don't take any offence if she says anything bad about you… it's just the way she is … she means well really," he added, holding the door to the Three Broomsticks open for her.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy," said Madam Rosmerta as they entered. "Lady Malfoy is in one of our private rooms waiting for you and Miss. Granger. Follow me, please," she said, walking over to a door beside the bar, opening it, and leading them down a long corridor which was lit by candles floating next to the walls.

She led them all the way down the end of the corridor, and knocked on the very last door before turning the handle and opening the door.

Inside the room, it was brightly lit, due to the many windows. The walls were painted a rich red with hanging tapestries hung in between the windows. There was moving portrait's of people wearing kilts and Victorian dresses on one wall.

On another wall stood a humongous fire place, which was lit, and in the centre of the room sat a huge, round table that was littered with dishes of food. All around the table sat big, throne like chairs.

Sat on one of those chairs sat a beautiful woman. Hermione had only seen her twice, maybe three times at the most, but it didn't stop Hermione thinking she was utterly beautiful.

She had long, blonde hair, bright blue eyes and very prominent features. She was extremely thin, and wore an expensive looking black dress. If you didn't know how old she was, you wouldn't think she was any older than the age of 25.

Hermione knew where Draco got his good looks from, and it certainly wasn't his father (though he may be a tad on the handsome side himself).

When they entered, Mrs. Malfoy looked up and a small, but bright smile flitted across her mouth when she saw her son. It became a little serene, however, when she saw Hermione. So it starts.

Yes, the war may be older, but when you'd been brought up, forced to hate Muggles and Muggle-borns alike, it wasn't easy to forget your beliefs.

"Draco dear, it's so good to see you," she said, standing up, giving Draco a tight hug when he approached her.

"It's lovely to see you too, Mother," Draco said, pulling back. "This is Hermione," he said, indicating towards where she stood in the door way, glancing around the room awkwardly.

The last time she'd seen this woman had been during the final battle, after all. And they weren't exactly good memories, either.

"I have met Miss Granger, Draco," she said, looking at Hermione with a stiff expression on her face.

"It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione said awkwardly, holding her hand up for the woman to shake.

"I'm sure," she said, looking down at Hermione's hand, hesitating before taking it in a loose embrace, shaking a few times before dropping it like it was scolding hot.

Hermione frowned and forced a tight smile on her face.

Draco pulled out a chair for her, indicating for her to sit down before sitting in the seat next to her with Narcissa on his other side.

"How have you been, Dragon?" Narcissa said, turning towards Draco with a small smile on her face.

"I've been just fine, mother, how about yourself? Are you enjoying your newly acquired freedom?" Draco said, pouring Hermione a glass of red wine before pouring himself some.

"Yes, dear. I heard that you and Miss Granger are living in a apartment on the school grounds together now?" Narcissa said, looking from Hermione to Draco.

"Yes, that's correct, mother. The ministry asked Professor McGonagall to build it for us. There's even a little nursery on the bottom floor for when the children start to arrive," Draco said, taking a sip of wine.

"That's wonderful. I'm sure you and young Miss. Granger here will produce me lots of beautiful children," Narcissa said with a glint in her eye.

"Mother, why do you have that look in your eye?" Draco said, looking at his mother darkly. "Have you had a vision?"

"Maybe," Narcissa said, smirking a very Draco-like smirk. Now Hermione knew where he got it from.

Visions? Hermione was definitely confused. And apparently, her confusion showed on her face as Draco proceeded to explain.

"Mother is a seer. It runs in the family though it always skips a generation, meaning our children may have the ability's to foresee the future," he said, and Hermione nodded in understanding. How interesting! She'd have to visit the library as soon as they returned to the castle.

"How wonderful that would be," Hermione said, beaming.

"Indeed," Narcissa said, nodding. "Tell me, Miss. Granger, is my Draco being nice to you? Is he looking after you in that home of yours? I know the two of you have never really … gotten along," she said.

"Mother," Draco warned.

"He's been just fine, Mrs. Malfoy. It was hard at first to drop our past behaviors towards one another, but I think we're getting there … slowly," Hermione said nervously.

It was strange being in the presence of this lady and not having her try and kill you.

She remembered Draco saying that none of his parent's gave him any love and support. It definitely didn't seem that way now, which was odd.

"Wonderful. And I, on both my behalf, my husbands and my deranged sister's, would like to apologize for every thing that happened during the war. Draco and I didn't want any part in it," she said, shocking Hermione.

She didn't say anything for a minute, and Narcissa got the wrong impression.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect you do jump for joy, but this is just outrageous! A Muggle-born not forgiving a pureblood -" she said started before Draco glared at her, hissing a "Mother, be quiet!"

"It's not that, Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione said, eyes wide. "I was just a little shocked, is all. I accept your apology."

"Well, good," Mrs. Malfoy said, nodding, taking a sip of her wine.

Hermione coughed awkwardly, unsure what to say. She didn't know how to act around the woman without her snapping her head off!

After a few baited breaths, Draco decided to speak.

"Now," said Draco. "Why don't we eat? Mother?"

"Good idea, darling," Narcissa said, and they spent the rest of their afternoon eating and awkwardly talking about the wedding.

Back at Hogwarts, Pansy and Harry were having a full blown argument.

"Potter, I swear to god, if you call me Pans one more time I might actually murder you," she shrieked for the hundredth time, pointing her wand threateningly at 'The boy who lived … twice'.

"Pans, Pans, Paaaans," Harry said in a sing song voice, not caring one bit that he could be seconds away from being cursed. He loved winding her up, it amused him greatly.

"Shut up you stupid tosser! It's a stupid nick name and I will not have you calling me it!" she fumed, stomping her foot down on the cream carpet in the living-room.

"I cannot believe you just stomped your foot in a pissy. I only thought they did that in those tacky movies," Harry smirked before dodging a stinging hex.

"A what?" Pansy said, stopping short, lowering her wand. She had no idea what a 'movie' was.

"You know, a movie? Kind of like a moving picture, only with sound. Just imagine, you're watching a play, but you take a picture of it, and when you watch it back, it's like your watching it all over again, only it's in a picture frame," Harry tried to explain. He wasn't doing a successful job of it.

"You know, that makes no sense whatsoever," Pansy glared, crossing her arms. He was making stuff up now. Just to confuse her. She didn't like being confused.

"Sure it does," he said, before getting a thoughtful look on his face. "I have an idea, come with me," he said, grabbing her hand.

"Where are you taking me, Potter?" Pansy snapped, trying to snatch her hand out of his. She got became even more frustrated when she failed. He was just so infuriating!

"Just wait and see," he smirked before pulling her out of their flat.

Five minutes later, they were standing outside a blank wall in another part of the seventh floor.

"You dragged me all the way up here, just to stare at a wall?" she growled. "That's it, I'm going back to the flat."

Turning around, she began to walk away before Harry reached forward and wrapped both of his arms around her waist, pulling her back towards him, causing her to shriek and start smacking his arms, attempting to get him to release her.

"Oh no you don't," he chuckled, spinning her around. He began walking them both back and forward past the wall, and didn't stop until they had passed the same spot three times.

"Potter, what on earth are you -" Pansy started, looking at him as though he was crazy, before stopping, mid-sentence. "Where did that come from?" she said, shocked. She hadn't been expecting that to be there. It just appeared out of nowhere!

It had just been a blank wall, and now there was a door! What the hell?

"You're telling me you don't know about the Room of Requirement?" Harry said in disbelief. "Even though Malfoy spent loads of his time in sixth year in there, fixing that cabinet? And didn't you sneak up on us in Fifth year while we were doing Dumbledore's army?"

He was sure it had been her.

"Well, he didn't really tell us much about his … mission," she said, saying the word as though it was dirty. "And you honestly think I can remember something that happened over three years ago? I can't even remember what I did last week!"

"Well, forget about that now, I have something to show you … come on," he said, taking her hand, (which she tried to snatch away from him again, causing him to only hold on tighter) opened the door and led her into a dimly lit room.

The room was basically plain. It had dark purple walls, with a small, but cosy looking settee, a old fashioned projector and a projector screen. The room was lit by a few candle lanterns here and there.

"What's this?" Pansy asked, confused.

"You'll see," he said, grinning. "Now, sit down," Harry told her, pushing her down on to the sofa before walking around it towards the projector.

"Pick one, Alice in Wonderland, Avatar, Titanic or The Notebook?" he said, looking down at the table that the projector was sitting on.

"What are you talking about, Potter?" she said, huffing. He was talking gibberish now. Who on earth was Alice, and where in Merlin's name was Wonderland?

She didn't like being out of the loop.

"Just pick one," Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"Fine, the first one you said, the Alice one," she snapped, turning to glare at him. He was just so … annoying!

He did something to the projector which Pansy didn't know what it was, before sitting down beside her.

A few seconds later, the light to the projector turned on and an image appeared on the screen, scaring the shit out of Pansy.

"Merlin, what's that?" she said nervously, her voice incredibly high pitched. The poor girl looked petrified as people appeared on the screen and music started playing.

"That my dear, is a movie. Now be quiet, it's starting," he laughed, putting an arm on the back of the sofa.

Over an hour and a half later, when the movie was finished, Pansy looked ecstatic.

"That is so cool!" she beamed at Harry. "I'd love to go to Wonder land! Where is it, Potter?" she demanded.

Harry chuckled.

"It's not a real place, Pansy," he told her.

She frowned, confused.

"Of course it is! She was there, wasn't she? I saw it with my own eyes, Potter! Don't lie to me!" she glared.

"I'm not lying, Pansy! It's just a story. It's all made up," Harry told her. "By a Muggle called Lewis Carroll."

Pansy's mouth made a 'O' shape.

"But how did you get it to work? Muggle technology doesn't work in Hogwarts?"

"Ah, but it's not Muggle Technology. It's just a simple, Wizarding projector they use in classes, only I asked the room to allow it to play Muggle movies too," Harry shrugged.

"Wait, you asked the room?" she said, a skeptical look in her eye. How can you just ask a room to do something for you?

"Yeah, whatever you ask for it to do, it will do it for you. Unless you ask for food and for a living being, then it won't work. But it will for inanimate objects," Harry explained.

"That's - that's amazing!" Pansy said before closing her eyes, screwing her face up.

A second later, a pair of high-heeled, black leather ankle-boots appeared in her lap.

"Boots?" Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, I was never aloud them!" Pansy said in defense.

"You were never aloud them?" Harry asked, confused.

Pansy blushed and muttered something, looking down.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Harry said, eyes wide. He couldn't be sure, but he thought she just said that they were -

"Muggle, Potter! They are Muggle boots!" Pansy said, her face bright red. "I saw them once in France on a Muggle girl. I looked for months in Wizarding shops but I couldn't find any that looked like them, so I asked my parents if I could buy some Muggle ones," Pansy told him, looking at her lap. "They locked me in my room for a week because of it."

Harry frowned. He felt so sorry for the girl. She had been in the same position as him as he was a child. Getting locked away for doing something 'wrong'.

'I know what it's like, Pansy," he told her.

"How could you know what it's like, Potter? You were raised with people bowing at you're feet, giving you everything you wanted," Pansy said a little enviously.

"No I didn't," Harry laughed darkly. "From the moment I was taken to my Aunt and Uncle's house until just before my Hogwarts letter came, I slept in the cupboard under the stairs. I did all they're house work, cooked their food, did their shopping and gardening, you name it."

Pansy frowned. She had always thought that Potter had gotten everything that he had wanted, but she had been wrong. So wrong.

"You were treated like … like a house elf!" she said, eyes wide. "You were the savior of the world!"

"They don't care," Harry said darkly. "They hate magic. Their afraid of it."

"So they should be," Pansy snorted. Stupid Muggles.

After a few minutes of silence, she spoke again.

"Listen, thank you for doing this Potter. It was really nice of you," she said, looking uncomfortable. She wasn't usually so nice and grateful. But he'd really impressed her with this.

"Its fine," Harry shrugged. "Just sorts of thing Muggles do on dates. So I guess this is our first ever date," he grinned.

"Don't count on it," she glared a little playfully.

"Hey, we skipped a whole step with this marriage thing. You're meant to date first, and then move in together, and then have a huge bust up, have the make up sex and then get married. We just went straight to the engagement," Harry joked. He didn't know how else to react to

"You know, this is so … abnormal. If you'd had said to me a year a go that I would be marrying Harry Potter, I would have taken you to St. Mungo's myself and checked you in to the Psych ward," she chuckled.

"I know, it is a bit weird … but hey, what can ya do?" he shrugged. "And to be fair, you're not half bad," he laughed, causing her to grin.

"I would say the same, but …. Yeah, I wouldn't want to lie," she smirked and he put a fake offended look on his face.

"That hurts, Pansy darling, that really hurts," he fake sobbed, causing her to laugh loudly.

"You know, you should laugh more often, you have a beautiful smile," Harry said sincerely, causing her to sober up instantly.

"No one's ever said that to me before," she said quietly. "Thank you, Potter," she said, before shocking the hell out of him and kissing him on the cheek.

"It's the truth," he said when she pulled back. "And please, for the last time, will you call me Harry?"

"Fine, whatever, Harry," she said, rolling her eyes. "And you tell anyone I was nice-ish to you… and I will personally kill you."

Harry didn't say anything, but startled Pansy when he leant forward quickly and crushed his lips to her, causing her to blush bright red.

Pansy had the feeling that this marriage wasn't going to be so bad after all.

End Author's note: So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I really liked writing this chapter, especially the Pansy and Harry bit. I thought it was incredibly sweet(:

Disclaimer: I do not own Alice in Wonderland, Avatar, Titanic or The Notebook. That right goes to Lewis Carroll, James Cameron, James Cameron (Again!) and Nicholas Sparks.

The reason I used those movies? Because when I was writing this chapter, I was sat next to my DVD rack, and those are the first ones I saw J.

Anyway, review replies! (:

**Beautifulsoul1928: **Okay, firstly, I'm hoping you weren't born in 1928, because you would be really, really old. :L

Thank you for liking my story! I'm glad you liked that part!

**Kijmuf: **Thank you!

**Hermionesw: **You are awesome! Just for the fact that 1. You like my story, and 2. You think I have a brilliant mind (: I hope you liked this chapter!

**Amber: **Thank you! I'll try ;D

**Toolazytosignin: **You know, I really wish you would sign in … it would be so much easier to reply:L!

I hope you liked this chapter, Sweet! ;D

**ShaeRhiannon: **First off, I just want to say I _love _your name. It's beautiful. Thank you! I thought I'd put them in Hogwarts because all the marriage law fics I've read, they've already left Hogwarts, and I wanted mine to be different(: I'm glad you liked the catalogue idea! I usually imagine Luna with Neville, but I just really wanted him to be with a Slytherin, to mix it up a bit.

And I think Luna being with Ron will calm him down a bit. He tends to be a bit hot headedJ.

I'm glad you like my writing style! Some people tend to dislike it, because apparently I ramble a lot.

Thank you so much for you're review. It really made me smile(: Review again, Sweet!

So that's everyone replied to, I think. If I've missed anyone out, I'm truly sorry!

I hope you enjoy this chapter, and next chapter will be up next weekend, as always! (:


	6. Chapter Six

Author's note: I'm so, so, so sorry this took so long to get up! It would have been up ages ago, only I lost my memory stick/flash drive (whatever you want to call it), which has the next like, seven chapter's of **Realize **on, so I was completely crapping myself.

Any way, I finally found it (Under my bed, for some odd reason), edited this chapter, and **BAM, **here we are! ;D

I'm not sure why, but I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Any way, due to me losing my memory stick, I'm unsure to who's reviews I replied to, so I'm just going to reply to every one's at the bottom of the page.

Oh, and one final thing… I set up a Photo bucket account so I could put some pictures on of the dresses and shizz, so go check that out! (: If the link doesn't work, then P.M me, and I'll sort you out! ;D

.com/albums/dd480/ForeverRose123/Realize/

^ The link! ;D

Read on dear fellows(':

Chapter Six.

Saturday 12th September 1998. (Words: 3969).

Nearly a week had passed since Hermione and Draco had met with Narcissa, and they were becoming better friends every day, though both of them constantly denied it.

Hermione remembered when Ginny had confronted her about it when they were in the library.

"_So, how's thing's going between you and Mister. McHotster?" Ginny smirked as Hermione picked out the book she needed for her Charms essay._

"_Who?" Hermione asked, frowning as they sat back at their table in the corner of the library._

"_Malfoy, who else?" Ginny said, rolling her eyes._

"_Oh, we're fine, thank you. We're not biting each other's heads of 24/7 if that's what you mean," she added, smiling lightly. _

_And they had been getting along better, a lot better. Every morning, she woke up with Draco's arms wrapped around her, and then they'd both rush to the bathroom, play fighting on the way. Draco would usually win and get to shower first, not that she minded. Then, some days Hermione would sit at the Slytherin table with him, then other's he would join her at the Gryffindor table, much to the dismay of Ron. _

_In the evening they would do there homework and talk over a nice cup of tea, then either meet with their friends or get an early night. Though they did still have constant rows, not that that was going to change. _

_Hermione, however, had this disappointed feeling in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't explain it. She got it every time Draco pecked her on the cheek, or on the forehead. _

_Was it possible that she wanted him to kiss her on the mouth? No, that was still…_

"_Hermione!" Ginny's voice said loudly._

"_What?" Hermione said, looking around, baffled._

"_I've been calling your name for at least five minutes now," Ginny said before smirking. "You were thinking about Draco."_

"_No I wasn't," Hermione said, but couldn't stop her self from blushing. "What gave you that impression?"_

"_Oh, just the dreamy look you had on your face," she said before opening her eyes wide, staring into space with her mouth open slightly, swinging from side to side, imitating Hermione's facial expression minutes before._

"_Wow, that look's oddly like a cross between Ron and Luna. Luna when she's going on about her creatures and Ron when he's eating," Hermione pointed out._

_Ginny snorted._

"_That's what their kids are going to look like," she laughed. "But any way, you were thinking about Draco, I know you were," Ginny said seriously. _

"_I was not!" Hermione protested, over and over again._

Ginny was stubborn. She just would not give up the idea that she thought Hermione was beginning to like Draco as 'more than a friend'.

It was a preposterous thought. Though it wasn't just Ginny who had suggested it, but Blaise and Harry, too.

Today was the day that she, Ginny, Luna, Pansy, Daphne and Astoria was going shopping for their dresses. She hated to admit it, but she was excited.

The plan was, they would all meet in the corridor of the 'Family wing,' before making their way up to Professor McGonagall's office like she'd asked, then they would proceed to Diagon Alley.

Hermione stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her tightly, before walking from the bathroom.

Draco catcalled when she walked passed him and into the bedroom.

"Shut it, you," she had said before closing the bedroom door, giggling slightly.

Grabbing her wand, she spelled her hair and body dry before changing into a pair of black skinny jeans, a white camisole with a black cat printed on the front, her underwear (obviously) and comfortable footwear. She knew what Ginny was like once she started shopping.

A knock came from the bedroom door.

"Hermione? You decent?" Draco's voice called through.

"Yeah, come in," she called back, tying her hair in a cute, but messy ponytail.

He opened the door and walked in, looking her up and down as he entered.

"You know, you really need to stop doing that," Hermione glared half-heartedly. She didn't like it when Draco 'checked her out'. She wasn't used to it… especially not from him.

"Doing what?" he said innocently.

"Eyeing me up," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Am I not aloud to appreciate what is mine?" he said, smirking at her.

"I'm not a possession, Draco," she said, glaring at him.

"I know, I know," he said, holding his hands up in defense. He really loved to annoy her, didn't he?

"What did you want anyway?" Hermione said, grabbing her knee length, black trench coat.

"I wanted to give you this," he said, putting his hand in his pocket and handing her a gold card with 'Gringotts Wizarding Bank' engraved on the front.

It looked like a normal Muggle credit card, only for a Wizarding Bank.

"Who's is this?" she said, taking it and flipping it over to see his name wrote on the back.

"Mine, obviously," he said, rolling his eyes. He did that a lot. "I want you to charge anything you buy today to my bank account. But whatever you want. It's not like I can't afford it," he said, noticing her hesitant glance.

"I can't Draco," Hermione said, trying to hand it back to him. "It wouldn't feel right."

"I insist. And don't not buy things just because their expensive either," Draco warned. "Look, if you don't take it, I'll give it to Ginny, and force her to buy your things for you."

Looking at the card in her hand as though it was alien spawn, she sighed and placed it in her front pocket.

"Fine, whatever," she rolled her eyes. Hermione looked down at her wristwatch and her eyes widened.

"Crap, I got to go. I'll see you later," she said, shoving her coat on.

Draco walked her to the front door, gave her a slightly stiff hug (they still weren't used to the whole affection thing) , a kiss on the cheek and sent her on her way.

When she got out into the corridor, everyone was already there, waiting for her.

"About time Granger," Pansy said, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry, I was trying to refuse to take Draco's bank card," she said sheepishly as they walked out of the Family wing and up towards the school.

"He gave you his bank card, too? Blaise insisted I would take his and buy whatever I like," Ginny laughed gleefully.

"Yeah, so did Potter," Pansy snorted, though she had a small smile on her face.

"Who knew they could be such gentleman's?" Daphne said sarcastically, flashing Theo's card in front of their eyes.

Once they got to Professor McGonagall's office, the two gargoyle's jumped aside without even asking for the password.

"Professor McGonagall told us to let you in," one of them said after Hermione gave them a questioning glance.

They made their way up the stairs and Pansy raised her fist and knocked loudly on the door.

"Come in," came the voice of the Transfiguration Professor.

They opened the door and walked towards her desk.

"Ah, girls. Now, the reason I asked you to come see me this morning is because I have to tell you a few rules," she said, leaning forward in her chair. "Firstly, you have to walk down to Hogsmeade and Apparate there, directly into The Leaky Cauldron and Apparate back afterwards. You must be back before dinner time. If any one who even looks remotely threatening approaches you, you return here immediately, am I clear?" she said sharply.

Even though the war was finished, the Ministry were still trying to round up the remaining followers of Lord Voldemort.

"We understand, Professor," Ginny said seriously.

"Right then, off you go," she said, waving them out of the office.

When they arrived in Diagon Alley nearly half an hour later, they were happy to see it wasn't too busy.

"Right, where first girlies?" Ginny said, beaming.

"How about Stardust? The bridal shop near Madam Malkin's?" Daphne suggested.

"Good idea, Greengrass," Ginny said. "Let's go."

They made their way down to said shop, and were relieved to see it was empty.

"Ah, what can I do for you, Mes chéris(1)?" said a tall, thin, red headed woman in her earlier thirties in a thick French accent.

"Well, we're all getting married over the course of the next month, and we need dresses," Hermione explained.

"Ah, magnifique!(2) Come, come," she said, ushering them into the shop.

"Sit down, sit down," she said, beaming, pushing them onto a large sofa. "Ere' you are," she said, handing each of them a thick wedding catalogue. "Come find me in the back when you 'ave found one, eh? My name is Dominiqué," she beamed.

They spent ages, looking through the catalogues, looking for the right dress.

"Hey, I think I've found one," Astoria said excitedly. "It says 'Hand-pleated A-line taffeta dress featuring hand beaded lace appliqués applied through out the style. The full A-line skirt has a chapel length train that is decorated down to the hem with appliqués' it's beautiful," she beamed, showing them the picture.

It was a strapless dress with beads around the breast, stomach and all the way down the side of the dress. It really was pretty.

"Dominiqué? I think I've found a dress," Astoria called.

The beautiful red head came rushing back to the shop, a beam on her face.

"Ah, très bon(3). That dress is 200 undred' Galleon's, mon chéri. (4) Is that OK with you?" she said, pulling Astoria from her seat and leading her towards the dressing rooms at the back of the shop.

"Yes, that's fine," Astoria smiled at the woman before she and Dominiqué disappeared into the dressing room.

One hour later, they had all found dresses except from Hermione.

Ginny's was a strapless taffeta dress that was twisted around the middle and held together with a broach, the skirt was full length which flared out a little and had a long train.

Pansy's was a chiffon dress with a strapless top covered in sparkling diamond beads and had a pleated, full length skirt.

Daphne's wasn't your average wedding dress. Instead of having a white dress, she'd decided she wanted a red one. The it had a lace-up corset type top covered in diamonds, and the full length skirt had body, and was pinned up every now and again by little silver clasps.

And Luna's wasn't like Luna at all. It was plain and simple; a strapless bodice with the fabric twisted around to the side and the full length skirt flitted out every time she walked.

"Wow," Hermione said when they stood in front of her in their dresses. "You guys look beautiful," she said, grinning at them.

"Thank you," they all said.

"Are you sure zere' isn't one in zere for you, 'Ermionee?" Dominiqué said.

"I'm sure. I'll just have to look somewhere else," she said apologetically. "They are all beautiful, but I just haven't connected with any of them. I'm sorry."

"It iz' not a problem," she said, waving away her apology. "If you do not find the one you are looking for, you will come back to me and I'll make you one, oui?(5)" she said, looking at me expectantly.

"Of course," Hermione said, nodding vigorously. She then had to wait while the girls changed back into their normal clothes and paid for their dresses before they could leave, after thanking Dominiqué over and over.

"Where else is there to buy dresses?" Hermione said, looking around.

"There's Madam Coleen's," Pansy said, nodding towards a shop in a side alley off from main Diagon Alley.

"Let's go there then, they sell wonderful shoes. We can buy our accessories in there," Daphne said, grinning as they walked swiftly towards Madam Coleen's.

When they entered, they were met by a warm, musky smell. Hermione spotted a few incense burning to the side of the room and took a deep breath, smelling roses.

"Oh, hello, dears. Can I help you all?" said a blonde woman, looking up from her cash register on the other side of the room. She was a little younger than Dominiqué, maybe mid-twenties? She had long, curly blonde hair and bright green eyes.

"Yes, Hermione here is trying to find her wedding dress, but can't seem to find the right one, we were wondering if you could help?" Ginny said, placing her bag down on the floor besides a chair.

"Of course, come here, come here," she said, grinning as she Hermione through to the back room, which was considerably larger than the front shop.

It had rows and rows of wedding dresses. Some were on mannequins, and some were hanging from the ceiling.

"Have a look through here, and I'll be out front if you find anything you like," the woman said.

"Thank you," Hermione smiled before she began looking through the racks of dresses.

She was looking for nearly half an hour until she spotted a mannequin hidden just behind a row of dresses and was pleasantly surprised when she saw how beautiful it was.

'This is the one,' she thought as she looked at it.

The bodice was silk taffeta and it had a lace ruffled skirt. It wasn't too flashy, but it was beautiful.

"Found anything?" came a voice from behind her, and Hermione spun around to see it was Ginny.

"Yes. I think this is the one, Gin," she said, turning back to look at the dress.

"It's gorgeous, Hermione. I'll go get Madam Coleen," she said before rushing back out to the front of the shop.

Ginny and Madam Coleen returned seconds later, both looking thrilled.

"Ah, Hermione, I see you've found this one. This is my favorite dress out of them all. I made it my self and it is completely one-of-a-kind. It'll look wonderful on you," she beamed.

"I love it! How much is it, though?" Hermione said.

"It's an expensive one, I'm afraid. It's nearly 600 Galleon's in total," she said.

"What? I can't pay that," Hermione said sadly. "I'll just find another -"

"Mione' what do you mean you can't pay for that? Of course you can! Draco gave you his bank card, and we all know he's not exactly poor. The Malfoy's are the richest family in Britain!" Ginny said defiantly. She would make sure her best friend got this dress.

"I know, Gin, but I feel bad about spending his money," Hermione protested.

"Sweetheart, in a week's time what's yours is his and what's his is yours," she said, smirking.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione was having an inward battle. She really, _really _wanted this dress.

"All right, fine, I'll take it," Hermione grinned.

"Perfect," Coleen beamed, pulling out her wand before conjuring up a dress bag and placing the dress into the bag.

"Right, now come out here to find yourself some shoes, jewellery and tiara," Ginny said, grabbing her friends hand and dragging her to the front of the shop.

After looking for a while, Hermione found herself some white stilettos that tied up with a rose broach, a plain chain necklace with a diamond heart on it, simple diamond studs and a thin bracelet with a green jewel in the middle.

She then found herself a simple tiara. It was swirled at either end with little crystals glittering over it and in the middle it held three diamonds held together by the mettle of the tiara.

Hermione grabbed all her things and walked over to the cash register, dreading the total cost.

"So, you're marrying Draco Malfoy?" Coleen said as she rang up her items.

"Yeah," Hermione nodded.

"Marriage Law?" she said, smiling.

"How'd you guess?" Hermione laughed.

"I've got someone, too," Coleen laughed.

"Oh really, who?" Hermione asked curiously as Coleen put her shoes, jewellery and tiara into a bag.

"His name is Oliver Wood," she said, smiling. "He's lovely, really. A professional Quidditch player, you know."

"Oh, I know Oliver. He was in my house at Hogwarts. Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. My friend Harry is on the team. Harry's captain now," Hermione smiled.

"Oh really? Harry Potter, you mean?" Coleen said.

"Yeah," Hermione grinned.

"Who's he marrying?"

"You see Pansy over there?" Hermione said, looking over at them, where they stood waiting for her. "She's marrying Harry."

"Oh, right," Coleen said nodding. "Any way, the total is 1032 Galleons, 8 Sickles and 3 Knut's," Coleen said and Hermione's jaw dropped.

"Merlin that's a lot," she said, and was extremely hesitant to give Draco's bank card to Coleen. That was more than she'd make in a year.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Mione'," Ginny said, rolling her eyes as she stormed up to Hermione, snatched the card out of her hand and gave it to Coleen before she could say anything.

Once everything was paid for, they said their thank you and their goodbye's to Coleen and left, laden down with bags.

"What time is it?" Astoria asked.

"Half three. Time for lunch, I think," Pansy said, rubbing her stomach. "I'm starving."

"The Leaky Cauldron?" Luna said.

"Yup, let's go," Ginny agreed before they made their way towards The Leaky Cauldron for their lunch.

They found a seat at the back of the pub, and were just looking at the menu's when Draco and Blaise Apparated in.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked when they spotted them sitting there and walked over.

"Ring shopping," Blaise answered before Draco could.

"And I want to buy some dress robes. Did you get everything you need?" Draco asked.

"Yeah," Hermione said, pushing the bags she had further under the table so Draco couldn't take a peek.

He then turned to look at Ginny.

"Her dress wasn't really cheap, was it?" he asked.

"Nope, was pretty darn expensive actually. You should have seen Hermione's face when the Witch told her the total cost. It was hilarious," Ginny laughed and Hermione scowled.

"It's not funny!" she glared.

"It is. Especially when I have to snatch the bank card out of your hand and practically chuck it at the witch because you were refusing to give it to her," Ginny and the other's laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, anyway, we've got to go. Meet us here at 6 and we'll go back together if you want?" Draco said to them.

"OK. See you later," Hermione said, smiling. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek (as did Blaise with Ginny) before they left.

"Aww," Astoria said to Hermione. "That's so sweet. I've never seen Draco look at anyone like that before."

"Like what?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Like he's been blind all his life and he's just seeing the sun for the first time," Pansy said bluntly.

Hermione was shocked. That was ridiculous.

"He was not looking at me like anything," she protested.

"When are you going to give up this act? We all know that the both of you like each other. It's blatantly obvious to see," Ginny said, rolling her eyes and called over the waiter.

When they were finished with lunch, they looked around for a little while longer until it was time for them to meet the boys at the Leaky Cauldron.

They didn't have to wait long until they turned up, each carrying a bag.

"Ready?" Blaise said and they made their way over to the Apparation point.

"Yeah, let's go," Ginny said, smiling.

With that, they all Apparated back to Hogsmeade.

After they dumped their bags in their apartments, they all, as a group, made their way to the Great Hall and sat at the Gryffindor table. They were quickly joined by Theo, who sat beside Daphne.

"Hello, Pansy," Harry said, wrapping an arm around Pansy, who blushed slightly, much to the amusement of her friends. "Did you get everything you need?"

"Yes, thank you. Oh and here's you're card back," she said, handing him the golden card.

"Thank you," he said, grinning at her. "Pumpkin juice?"

Hermione was quiet through most of dinner, thinking.

Is what the girls said about Draco true? Did he really look at her like that? If he did, did that mean he had feelings for Hermione? Did she have feelings for him? She didn't know. Wasn't it a little fast? It hadn't even been two weeks since they had found out they were to be married. Maybe it was just all an act? Or her friends were just misreading the signals?

When she was in the bedroom later that night, hiding away her dress for next week, she didn't realize Draco was standing behind her, watching her from the door way.

"What was the matter with you at dinner?" he asked, and she jumped a foot in the air before spinning around to see him leaning in the door jam.

"Jesus, Malfoy, don't do that to me!" she said, holding her chest. "What do you mean, anyway?" she said, frowning. She didn't realize there was anything wrong with her at dinner.

"You hardly spoke a word and had a permanent frown on you face the whole time. It's not attractive to frown, you know," he said silkily.

"Hypocrite. You're constantly frowning," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, but I will forever be handsome," he said, smirking. "And you didn't answer my question."

She didn't say anything, only walked past him.

"There was nothing wrong with me," she said as she sat on the sofa in the living room, opening her book. "I was just thinking, that's all."

He sat down opposite her.

"About what?" he asked, leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knee's and is his chin resting on his hands. Merlin, didn't he know when to drop a subject?

"About, you know … everything that's happened since we came back to Hogwarts," she said, shrugging.

"About me and you, you mean?" he said softly.

"I suppose, yeah. It's just, it's so weird, you know?" she said, closing her book and placing it on the table. "It's a lot to take in."

"I know. It's only because for so long, we've been enemies then all of a sudden, we're getting married," he said in an understanding tone.

"Exactly," Hermione sighed. "I just don't know how to act about it all."

"I do think, though," Draco started slowly. "That we could actually learn to love one another, in time."

Hermione looked up at him and she could see nothing but sincerity in his eyes. He meant every word of it. Wow, she wasn't expecting that one.

"Are you saying that you fancy me, Mister Malfoy?" she said, smirking.

"Maybe," he said, winking. "We all know you want me, Granger. How could you not? I mean, look at me."

"You're so full of yourself, Malfoy," she laughed, chucking a cushion at him.

"I am not. I just like to flaunt what god gave me," he smirked.

"Your such an idiot," she chuckled.

"Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes before walking over to sit next to her.

"Something wrong with that sofa?" she said, raising an eyebtow at him.

"Nope. I just felt like cuddling with something, and as you're the closest person to me, it just had to be you," he said, sighing in fake annoyance. "Pity I'm not marrying Longbottom."

"Shut up," she laughed as she grabbed her book again.

"Wait, let me get comfortable," he said before readjusting them both.

He was now sat along the sofa with Hermione sat between his legs. He had his arm wrapped around her and resting on her stomach and she was laying back on him, giving her plenty of space to read.

"This is weird," Hermione said, snorting lightly.

"Yes, yes it is," Draco said and from then on, they sat in comfortable silence.

**End Author's note: **

So I hope you all enjoyed it… as usual, the Disclaimer is on my profile!

Translations: (I hope Google translate is correct.)

(1) Mes chéris - My darlings.

(2) Magnifique - Magnificent.

(3) très bon - Very good.

(4) mon chéri - my darling.

(5) Oui - Yes.

If you are/speak French, and any of these translations are wrong, please let me know and I will do what I can to change it.

**Reviews: **

Harmonious: Thank you! One of the main worries about writing this is the fact if their in character or not. It's so hard to write someone's personality when someone else made the character up.

Yes, I think you would be a little laid back ;D! Yes, Hermione's parents are still alive(: I'm glad you like Pansy! ;D

XX-Gred-ForgeXx: Okay, first off, my word annoyed me, because it wouldn't let me put the little x then the big x -.- sorry about that! ;D Thank you for your kind words! ;D

Darke Whispers: I hope bizarre is good? Thank you!

FlareonRocks: Your review made me grin! Thank you! And wow, you read it in an hour? I know, I think I'm going to cry, too. It completely sucks having Ron with Hermione, but what are you gonna do, eh? I can't wait though, it comes out like… two days before my birthday (In England).

Hermionesw: Thanks! And I know that the whole 'Seer' thing may seem stupid, but trust me, it all works out in the end! Cheers for the review!

SebSnape: Sorry I had to make you wait longer than a week L I feel really bad. Aww, thank you! Means so much to me, truly. I love Dramione fics, too! ;D

Erica674: Thank you! Really? Aww, your making me blush!

THIS IS AWESOME: Thank you! I would, but I want to keep up a routine and allow my reader's to have time to log on, read the latest chapter and review. Thanks!

Rumbleroars Army: Well, Welcome to the story! I'm glad you decided to join us in our journey! Thank you so much!

Dramione-Fan 17: Thank you! Next chapter will be up next weekend (Hopefully).

KristaSims2704: I love the idea of a Harry/Pansy pairing, I don't know why. You'll have to keep reading and find out! ;D Thank you!

Amber: Hope you enjoyed!

PRINCE-ASH'S-GIRL: Thank you so much! Next chapter will be up soon(:

Cc: Thank you!

Harrypotterbook4fan: I take it you're a fan of book four? ;) Thank you! And yeah, part of the reason why I put the dates at the top, is because I swear, I have short term memory loss, so I always forget when things are supposed to be, like what days and stuff. But I'm glad it makes it easier for you to follow.

DeathlyIce: I'm glad you like cute Pansy! ;D I'll make sure to write her cute in the future!

Tfobmv18: Thank you! I'll try!

CloggX: Thank you… I'm glad you liked it! Thanks, dear! (:

Hermione Selene11: Really? N'aww, thank you so much!

defined writers: Thank you so much!

HHSprincess: Thank you!

X-chick218: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! (:

So that's all the reviews… If I missed out any one, sorry! 21 more reviews till we reach 100! Shall we see if we can do it before next chapter? I think we can, considering **Chapter Five **got _22 reviews! _

I love you all, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ;D!


	7. Chapter Seven

Author's Note: 

Wow, Chapter Seven already? I remember when I first posted this story! It's certainly been a wonderful journey so far! (:

So silly me only posted half the link to my Photobucket on last chapter. I've only just realized and isn't letting me edit it, so you'll all have to go to my profile to get the link. Sorry guys.

Any way, I hope you all like this chapter! It's not as long as the other's, but oh well.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that we've now reached the hundred mark? Amazing isn't it? Keep up the good work, guys! ;D!

Chapter Seven: 

Sunday 13th September 1998. (Words: 2203.)

Ginny groaned when the alarm clock rang, indicating she had to get up.

"Wake up, Ginny," Hermione's voice came from loudly beside her.

"I don't want to get up," she moaned.

Why, oh why did Ginny have to suggest that she'd stay at Hermione's flat and Draco stay at hers with Blaise the night before the wedding? Not only did she have a monstrous headache (due to the Hen party Pansy and the other girls had threw last night) but she was also nervous as hell.

Ginny had arrived at Hermione's last night with her wedding stuff, announcing to the cosy couple who were still on the sofa cuddling, that she was staying and that Draco was going to stay with Blaise, considering he was best man.

About ten minutes later, Pansy, Daphne, Astoria, Luna, Lavender, Parvati, Padma and Eloise had all turned up, telling Ginny they were having a Hen Party to celebrate Ginny's last night of freedom.

Hermione had protested at first, because she knew she'd be the one cleaning up the mess in the morning. But Ginny had convinced her that she would help to tidy up.

So, the reason Ginny was in this state, was because she didn't listen to Hermione when she said no.

"Ginny, do you or do you not want to marry Blaise today?" Hermione said. "Come on, get out of bed. I have a hangover potion ready in for you in the bathroom."

Cracking her eyes open, Ginny moaned at the sunlight streaming through the window.

"All right, all right, I'm up," she said, dragging herself out of Hermione's bed before shuffling out of the bedroom, down the hall, through the living room and into the bathroom.

After downing the steaming potion which was on the bathroom side, Ginny stripped off and jumped in the shower, letting her tight muscles relax under the hot water.

Twenty minutes later, she was out of the shower and had dried herself off, wrapping a dressing gown around her, her hangover now completely gone, thank god.

Just as she walked out of the bathroom, there was a thunderous knock at the front door.

"I'll get it, Hermione," Ginny called as Hermione came rushing out of the bedroom, her hair stuck up at all angles.

When Ginny opened it, her mother and a pregnant Fleur came bounding into the room, squealing.

"Ginny dear, how are you feeling?" Mrs. Weasley said as she ushered her daughter into the bedroom.

"I'm feeling fine, mum. A little nervous, extremely excited," she grinned.

"I'm so 'appy for you," Fleur said, smiling tightly. After all, she and Ginny had never really seen eye to eye. "He iz very 'andsome," she said in her French accent.

"I know," Ginny said, beaming. "He's so lovely too, mum. I really like him."

"That's good, dear. I'm so glad you are able to deal with this, darling, given the circumstances."

"He's not like the other Slytherin's, mum," Ginny commented as Fleur dragged Ginny into Hermione and Draco's bedroom, forcing her into the chair in front of the vanity table.

They had both agreed that Fleur was to do Ginny's hair and Hermione was to help with the make up.

By the time they'd finished, her hair was curled and pined up with glittery hair pins, and her fringe was put up in a big quiff. Her make up was simple. She had some foundation on, liquid eyeliner on top, which flicked out at the sides slightly, some mascara and blush on her cheeks.

"Oh, darling. You look wonderful," Mrs. Weasley said softly.

"We'll leave you in here and you can change into your dress," Hermione said before ushering Mrs. Weasley and Fleur out of the room.

After putting on her underwear, she slipped into the dress and used her wand to zip it up at the back.

When she had it on, she stared into the mirror, grinning at her reflection.

"Soon enough, Gin, you're going to be a Zabini. You're going to marry one of the kindest, most loveliest wizards you've ever met. Isn't it wonderful?" she whispered to herself.

Ginny then looked around the room for her shoes. She located them in her bag at the end of the bed. Once she had her shoes on, she looked at her self once more in the mirror before calling the other's back into the room.

"Oh, Ginny, you look beautiful," Mrs. Weasley cried, giving her daughter a tight hug. "I don't want to let you go," she said quietly.

"It's OK, mum; I'm always going to be here. Just because I'm getting married, doesn't mean I'm leaving you," Ginny laughed, though she could feel her eyes tearing up.

"I know dear. It's just, you're not going to be a Weasley any more," she said, still crying.

"I'll always be a Weasley at heart, mum. Beside's, don't you think Ginervra Zabini has a ring to it?" Ginny smirked.

"Yes, I suppose it does," Mrs. Weasley cried.

After Hermione got ready, (wearing her hair up in a bun with stray bits of hair hanging down, simple make up and a simple white halter neck dress and black stiletto ankle boots) Mrs. Weasley and Fleur went to the Room of Requirement to see if every one was ready, Mrs. Weasley sent up Mr. Weasley.

"Daddy," Ginny said, beaming at him as he entered the flat.

"You look so beautiful, sweetheart," he said, tears in his eyes.

"You aren't going to start crying, too, are you?" Ginny scolded a smile on her face.

"It's just that you look so grown up," he said sadly. "I remember when you were born."

Rolling her eyes, Ginny gave him a tight hug.

"Don't cry, dad, you'll set me off," she laughed. She really didn't want to cry today.

"Ginny, we have to go now, they're all waiting for you," Hermione said, smiling softly at her best friend.

"Come on then, let's go. It's now or never," she said, laughing. Her nerves were fried, her hands were shaking, her palms all sweaty (A Weasley trait) but most of all, she was happy. Sure, she was a bit worried. She was so young! Blaise was sure to look after her, though. There was no doubt about that.

After Hermione cast several, strong dirt-repelling spells onto Ginny, they left the 'Family Wing' and made their way towards the Room of Requirement.

Hermione entered first, because she was acting as the Maid of Honor.

She saw Draco, who was stood at the front next to Blaise and grinned at him when he turned to look at her.

When she reached them, the Wedding march began and she and Draco sat down in their seats as Ginny and Mr. Weasley made their way up the isle.

"You look beautiful," Draco whispered in her ear, holding her hand.

"Thank you," she whispered back before turning around and watching her best friend become a Zabini.

Once the ceremony was over, everyone was applauding and cheering as Ginny and Blaise walked out of the Room of Requirement, holding hands, grinning widely, and led everyone to a disused classroom down the hall where they were having their reception.

After the first dance between Ginny and Blaise, Ginny then danced with Mr. Weasley, who was crying.

Hermione sat quietly, smiling as she watched all of her friends get up and join in the dancing.

"Want to dance?" a voice came from beside her.

She turned around and saw Draco sat there, holding out his hand to her.

"I'd love to," she said beaming, taking his hand in hers.

He pulled her from her seat and led her to the 'dance-floor'.

"You look absolutely delicious, you know that?" Draco whispered as they slow-danced to Ave Maria by Celine Dion, who Hermione was shocked to hear because she was, in fact, a Muggle singer.

"I don't look that nice," Hermione said, rolling her eyes as Draco spun her around in a circle before pulling her back into him, putting one hand on her hips and holding her hand with the other, swaying them both side to side.

"You do," he insisted, looking down slightly. He wasn't used to giving out compliments as often as this. What on earth was happening to him?

"Wow, Draco Malfoy is giving me another compliment," Hermione smirked. "This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"

"You better get used to it, Missy," he chuckled, causing Hermione to laugh loudly, making a few of the other guest stare in wonderment. Could the ex Death Eater actually be making Miss Granger laugh?

After dancing for a while longer, and talking to their friends, and congratulating Ginny and Blaise numerous of times, Draco led Hermione out of the class room and up to the Astronomy Tower.

"What are we doing up here?" she giggled, a little tipsy, as he pulled her by the hand into the tower.

"Looking at the stars, silly," Draco said, and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning his chin on her shoulder so they could look out of the huge window (that had no glass) to look at the stars.

"It's so beautiful up here," Hermione whispered. "It's just a shame … what with all the memories up here."

Draco tensed slightly, remembering that fateful night Dumbledore died.

"I'm sorry, Draco," Hermione said quietly. "I didn't mean to bring up such awful things."

Draco grabbed Hermione's chin and tilted her head up so she was looking into his eyes.

"You know things are different now, though, don't you?" he whispered. "That I'd never do any of those things again? Especially not to you?"

Hermione frowned. Why especially not to her? Why was she so different?

"Of course I know, Draco," she told him. "You've changed. Everyone can see that."

"Hmmhm," Draco agreed, smiling slightly. "You know, there is another reason why I brought you up here tonight, actually."

Instantly suspicious, Hermione spun around in his arms to face him.

"Which is what?" she asked, hands resting palm down on his chest. She didn't like surprises.

"Well, since we're getting married…" he trailed off, and before Hermione knew what he was doing, he'd got down on one knee and pulled a ring box out of his pocket.

"Draco Malfoy, what are you doing?" Hermione gasped, eyes wide.

"Well, you need an engagement ring, do you not?" he smirked.

"Well, yes, but -" she started but he cut her off.

"Hermione Granger will you marry me?" he said suddenly.

"Well, I can't exactly say no, now can I?" she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Just answer the question," he huffed, frowning at her playfulness. This was a serious matter!

"Yes, I will, you bloody-fool. Now get up off the floor, I'm the one who has to wash those trousers," she scolded and he rose to his feet before placing an abnormally large rock on her ring finger. It had a silver band, with three stones. Two of them were diamonds, with a huge, green emerald sat in between them both. Engraved on the band was 'My love' in elegant writing.

"Merlin, how much did this cost?" she said, her jaw hitting the floor.

"Absolutely nothing. It was my mothers. Her true love, Xavier Nott gave it to her. But because she was betrothed to my father, she couldn't accept. He insisted that she take the ring. She gave it to me when she found out I was marrying you," Draco explained, smiling down at her.

"Nott? As in -?" Hermione said.

"Theo's dad, yes. They were in the same year together at Hogwarts. They had been best friends their whole lives," Draco said.

"It's so sad that they couldn't be together. It's kind of like Romeo and Juliet," Hermione said softly, smiling up at him.

"Who and who?" he asked, frowning. What on earth was she jabbering on about?

"Oh, it's a Muggle play that was wrote hundreds and hundreds of years ago by William Shakespeare," Hermione explained.

"Oh, right," Draco nodded, not having clue what she was talking about. They stood there in silence for a little while, just looking into each other's eyes, as much as that sounded like a Cliché.

"There was one last thing I wanted to do," Draco finally whispered.

"Which is what?" Hermione said, taking her eyes away from the gorgeous ring, looking up into his sparkling grey eyes.

. She realized it then, as he proposed to her, and as she looked into his eyes, that she definitely had feelings for Draco Malfoy. How much? She didn't have a clue. But there was certainly something there.

"This," he said quietly before leaning down, with her still in his arms, and placing a kiss gently on her lips.

Sighing , she leant into his kiss, gasping as he flicked his tongue out, letting it swipe against her bottom lip. His mouth tasted like honey.

It was then that she realized that what she'd been searching for, for all these years, to try and fill that hole inside her, the feeling of emptiness, she'd finally found it. And now that she'd found it, she wasn't letting go in a hurry.

End Author's note: 

So I hope you all liked this chapter. As I said, not as long as the other's, but not every chapter can be as long, right?

I would like to mention that I have added pictures of Hermione's outfit for Ginny's wedding and the Engagement ring Draco gave her to my Photobucket sight. Go check it out, leave a comment, you know! J

Reviews:

**DarkAngel:** Thank you so much? Aww, really? Thank you! I'm not entirely sure. I was aiming to only have it around 10-12 chapter's long, but there is no way that is happening. I love this story too much! Yes, I think you might have mentioned it, dear ;)

**TheCuteVamp: **Thank you! They are, aren't they? I know, I wanted to make Pansy a little nicer than she's portrayed in the books. I know, but don't you think they would have become a little richer, what with helping win the war and everything?

I know, I would have never thought of that pairing either! But I wanted it to be different, you know? There's been so many takes on the Marriage law thing, and I wanted to make sure mine was different. Yes, you should! Don't forget to comment! You should indeed, they are very handy, especially if you are an author.

Nope, if people are already married, then the law doesn't affect them in the slightest(: Thank you so much! J

**Spikeecat**: Thank you! It's not a problem!

**Hpluver4ever: **Thank you for all you're reviews! They made me smile. Not to worry, you'll hear more about Ginny and Blaise in the future. I know Ron and Luna is kind of an odd pairing, but I wanted to make it different, you know? By not placing certain people with the people their always paired with. I thought it might be a nice change. Thank you so much! I was thinking about changing the rating to M, but I'm not to sure just yet. We'll see (: Thank you! (:

**Vampgirl94:** Thank you!(: And thank you for the information … I'll try and change it. J

So that's all for reviews, like always, if there are any mistakes, questions and whatnot, feel free to drop me a review, P.M or email. And please go check out the pictures on Photobucket? The link is on my profile(: Drop a comment! (: Thank you all!


	8. Chapter Eight

_Authors Note: _So I'm back with another chapter! And a day early, too! I'd like to thank every one for the reviews/alerts. It really makes me grin.

So I just wanted to say something… I got this idea for a new story (I wont be uploading it, I don't think) but I was wondering… does any one else have the same reaction to me when I get random inspiration for a new story? I kind of grin, start kicking my feet, giggle and have this tingling sensation go through my body. I'm a strange kid, I know ;D!

Any way, I really enjoyed writing this chapter, I hope you enjoy it just as much!

Read on, M'Chickens!

Chapter Eight.

Friday 18th September 1998. (Words: 2491).

Hermione was jolted out of her studies by a loud banging on the door.

Draco, who was sat next to her, also doing his homework, looked up, startled.

He stood up, stretching, and walked over to the door, swinging it open, annoyance clearly written on his face.

"Merlin, no need to break the door down, Weasley," he said, rolling his eyes as Ginny barged past him into the living room.

"It's Zabini now, I think you'll find," she smirked before walking in, carrying her huge, suitcase like, handbag.

"I take it you're staying?" Hermione said rolling her eyes, looking at the bag with a slight glare on her face.

"Yup. And you -" she said, spinning around and pointing at Draco. "-are going to stay at my flat with Blaise. Go on, get your stuff," she said, pushing him towards the bedroom.

"Bitch," he muttered as he closed the door.

"Ass," Ginny yelled at the door.

"Your so bossy," Hermione laughed, putting her quill down on the table. "I don't know how Blaise puts up with you."

"For your information, Mrs. Soon-to-be-Malfoy, Blaise happens to adore me," Ginny said with a smug smile on her face.

"Oh, is that what he tells you?" Hermione smirked. "What are you staying for anyway?"

Ginny looked at her like she was crazy. Why was she staying? Why was she -

"Hermione, you're getting married tomorrow," she said simply.

"Yes, I do know that," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. How could she not? She was a bag of nerves right about now.

"We're having a hen party for you," Ginny said, smirking.

Hermione glared, standing up from her seat on the sofa.

"No way, Ginny," she said, crossing her arms in defiance.

"Yes way, Hermione!" Ginny grinned evilly. Oh, she was going to love this!

"Who was left to clean up all the mess last time? Even though you specifically promised me you would help?" she said furiously.

"I know, but I was a little busy getting married," Ginny said, rolling her eyes at her friend as Draco entered. "And plus it's all arranged now."

"Well then," Hermione snapped. "You'll just have to un-arrange it."

"What's this all about?" Draco said as he walked over to Hermione to give her a hug goodbye.

"Her hen night. She's trying to put a stop to it," Ginny explained as Draco kissed Hermione on the mouth. Ginny fake gagged, earning a glare from Hermione.

Draco laughed, and looked at his Fiancée with sympathy etched across his face.

"Good luck, if Pansy's involved, you'll never get your own way, no matter how stubborn you are," he said, giving her one last kiss before leaving for Blaise's.

"Things are going well between you two then?" Ginny said, smirking.

Hermione didn't answer, only glared at her, before throwing a cushion at Ginny, which she narrowly dodged, due to her amazing Chaser skills. Damn Quidditch.

Less than a few minutes later, the door swung open and in walked Pansy, Daphne, Astoria, Luna, Lavender, Parvati, Padma and Eloise.

Sighing, Hermione gave in. She knew she would never win with this lot here.

A few hours and way too many drinks later, they were all slurring their words.

Pansy, who had a cocktail umbrella in her hair, sang happily.

"In two days time I'm marrying the savior of the wizarding world," she said in a sing song voice. "I shall be Pansy Pamela Potter!" she cackled.

"Pans, you're middle name isn't Pamela. It's Cecelia," Daphne giggled uncontrollably. Silly Pansy.

"Yes, but it fits!" Pansy said loudly, jumping up from her seat on the floor and began dancing around, sloshing her martini everywhere. "I shall change it immediately!"

"Shhh," Hermione giggled, extremely drunk. "If Minnie McGonanonagall -" she stuttered her name, laughing loudly. "If Minnie McGonagall comes in … we're all done for."

"Oh lighten up, Hermininy," Ginny laughed, taking another deep swig of her Firewhiskey. "Tomorrow you're marrying one of the most gorgeous men alive."

"You know, I was supposed to marry Drakey-poo," Pansy sighed as she grabbed a piece of parchment, some ink and a quill.

"But it was weird, you know? He's like my brother."

"You know, you're lucky, Hermione … you're not stuck with someone like Justin Finch-Fletchley. My name is going to be Lavender Finch-Fletchley," Lavender moaned.

"Well I'm going to be Parvati Thomas," Parvati grinned.

"And I'm already Padma Finnigan," said Padma, who had gotten married the week before.

"And our dear Luna here is going to be a Weasley soon," Ginny grinned over at the sleeping girl, who, like Astoria, had passed out on the sofa's after drinking nine shots of Firewhiskey each.

"Don't tell anyone this," Hermione giggled. "But I cannot wait until tomorrow."

Sighing in happiness, she flung herself back onto the floor, where she was sat.

"Aww,'' they all cooed.

"You really do look so sweet together," Pansy said, grinning, scribbling away on the parchment.

"You really think so?" Hermione said, beaming.

"Yes, we all do," Lavender said, nodding.

"You know, I've never seen Draco look at anyone like he does with you, and I've known him for a pretty long time," Daphne commented.

"Really?" Hermione said hopefully. How _did _he look at her?

"Yup."

"I really think he's falling in love with you, Hermione," Ginny said, smiling.

Hermione's eyes began to tear up.

"You know, that's all I really wanted. Was to find someone who cares about me. Ever since the war, everyone's changed. Nothing's the same anymore. It's like I was empty inside. But it's not like that anymore," she said, sighing, wiping her eyes.

"That's so sweet. When I first found out you and Draco were getting married, I thought you'd never get along, due to past differences. But I shall safely say that I was wrong," Pansy said, putting her parchment into an envelope, licking the sticky part before sealing it. "OUCH…paper cut!" she said glaring at the envelope.

Hermione and Draco had been getting along better and better over the past week. It was almost like they were a normal couple.

Yes, they still had their huge arguments, but it's not easy to change old habits.

"How are things between you and Harry?" Hermione asked, taking a swig of her Vodka and coke.

"It's just … perfect," Pansy smiled. "Did I tell you all about when he showed me those movies?" she said, looking around at them all before she walked over to Draco's owl and tied the letter to his foot, watching as it flew out the open window.

"Yes. Plenty of times," Padma said, rolling her eyes.

"It was so romantic and sweet. We still have the odd arguments and sometimes I feel like I want to murder him, but we're working on it."

"I'm so happy for you," Ginny said beamed, downing her drink, and burping loudly. She was more manly than her six brothers put together at times.

"What about you, Gin? How's married life?" Daphne asked.

"Oh it's wonderful. He's so sweet and romantic and kind and loving and drop dead gorgeous. And let me tell you, underneath those robes, it aint so bad either," she said, winking, causing the girls to fall into a fit of laughter.

Sighing, Hermione looked down at the empty alcohol bottles.

"We're out of alchomoholic beverages!" Hermione said, eyes wide.

"Go steal some of the boy's, then Granger," Daphne said, leaning against the sofa, sighing in content.

Groaning, Hermione raised from her seat and shuffled towards the portrait door, swinging it open and staggering out into the hall way. As she did, she heard Ginny say… "Hey pans, what _was _in that letter?"

"Oh, a little note to the Ministry, informing them to change my middle name to Pamela," came Pansy's voice, which was followed by a fit of giggles.

Hermione rolled her eyes before strolling drunkenly down the hall way to the Zabini's flat.

She stopped dead outside the portrait… trying to figure out the password to give to Zeus, the god of the sky and thunder.

Hermione put a finger on her chin thoughtfully and hummed. A grin appeared on her face suddenly.

"?" she said loudly, throwing her arms in front of her, palms up, as though the door was going to magically open.

Zeus shook his head in bewilderment.

"My dear, I will give you a clue," he said, smiling down at the drunken girl, pity evident on his face. "It is both Mr. and Mrs. Zabini's favorite Quidditch team."

Hermione 'hummed' once more and began to pace thoughtfully.

"I KNOW!" she said after a few minutes, spinning around, grinning triumphantly. "HOLYHEAD HARPIES! BOOSH!"

"Very well," said Zeus, swinging the portrait open.

"YES!" Hermione yelled, throwing her hands up in the air in victory, before bringing them back down to cover her mouth, which was now shushing herself.

She walked through the hole slowly to see the living room pitch black. Frowning, she shuffled in quietly, hearing the portrait shutting behind her.

She looked around the living room for about five minutes, not finding anything. Hermione then decided to look in the kitchen. There was always drink in the kitchen, right?

She staggered through the open door and began looking through the cupboards.

In her drunken haze, she didn't hear someone enter the kitchen behind her until they're arms snaked around her waist, yanking her back flush against their chest.

She squawked loudly in surprise, sending the empty bottle of Firewhiskey she was holding flying, which smashed against the opposite wall.

"You know," a silky voice whispered in her ear. "You really should learn not to steal from others, dear."

She knew that voice. The voice that she dreamt about almost every night.

Spinning around, she saw his white blond hair, which stood out like the moon in the darkness

"Draconis Malfoy, do not sneak up on me like that!" she scolded. "I could have had a heart attack."

"And we don't want that, now do we?" Draco said, dragging his lips down the side of her neck. It was blatant to see that he had had his fare share of drinks himself. "What are you doing here anyway? Couldn't resist me, huh?"

"No, we ran out of alcohol," Hermione said, rolling her eyes before shoving him away from her.

"So you came to steal ours?" Draco said raising his eyebrows.

He crossed his arms over each other and leant against the door jam, blocking her exit.

"In my defence, I am extremely drunk," Hermione slurred slightly.

"Is that my excuse to take advantage of you?" he said, smirking as he walked towards her, pinning her to the counter.

"You wish," Hermione laughed, trying to sneak away from him, which failed. Epically.

"Hmm," he said, putting one hand on her cheek and the other on the counter. "And tomorrow I shall have my wish."

He leaned down before kissing her. The kiss wasn't quick and slow, it was fast, raw with passion.

Before Hermione knew it, she was sat up on the counter with her legs wrapped around his waist, his arms up her shirt and placed firmly on her buttocks.

A catcall came from behind them, making them jump apart.

"Look who's getting it on in the kitchen," Theo said from the kitchen door way, doing a little dance. Idiot. Draco turned around and Hermione looked over his shoulder.

Theo, Blaise, Goyle, Ron, Neville, Harry, Dean and Seamus were stood there, looking at them with massive grins their faces.

"Am I not aloud to kiss my fiancé?" Draco said, glaring at them all. He was not happy with them for interrupting him and his lovely.

"That - that was not kissing, my friend," Dean laughed.

"Yeah, that was more like dry humping," Harry chuckled.

"On my kitchen counter, too," Blaise glared.

Blushing furiously, Hermione jumped off the counter, staggering slightly, before Draco steadied her.

"Right, I'm going. You quite clearly have no alcohol for us," she mumbled before pushing her way through the boys, down the hall way and out the flat. She'd never felt more embarrassed in her life!

(Earlier that night.)"Draco," Blaise said when the blond boy walked into the flat. "I'm guessing Ginny forced you to leave, did she?"

"You got a handful with that one there, Blaise," Draco laughed, sitting down next to Blaise on the sofa.

"She's lovely. But when she want's something, she knows how to get it," Blaise smirked.

"Seems like you two are happy, then," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "Who knew that Blaise Zabini would fall in love with the spit fire of the Weasley clan."

"And who knew that you would fall in love with a mudblood?" Blaise said, raising his eyebrows.

Draco instantly flared up.

"Do not call her that!" he hissed, pulling his wand out on his best friend.

Blaise held his hands up in defense.

"Hey, chill, you know I have nothing against Muggle-borns and Muggles. Just think Draco, before you go pulling your wand out on people, less than a year ago, you were the one who was following a mad man who was trying to eliminate what your fiancé is all about," Blaise warned, and Draco, looking ashamed, put his wand away.

"Sorry, I just get a little …" he trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Defensive? Protective? When are you going to admit that you actually have feeling's for her?" Blaise sighed.

"It's not that simple, Blaise," Draco moaned, covering his face with his hands.

"And why not?"

"My father," Draco said simply, it coming out a little muffled due to his hands covering his mouth.

Blaise didn't say anything for a few minutes.

"The guy is a mad man, Blaise. If he found out that I have feeling for a Muggle born and was marrying her tomorrow, he would murder me. Actually, he'd probably murder her first and make me watch. And what's even worse about it all, is that the very boy his precious Dark Lord failed to kill, is one of her best friends?" Draco explained before Blaise could say anything. He leant back on the sofa, closing his eyes, sighing.

"Well," Blaise said, smirking. "At least I got you to admit your love for Granger," he laughed.

Draco snapped his eyes open and rolled them at his best friend. "Shut up, you great oaf! I never said I loved her!"

It was then that there was a knock at the door.

"Hey, not a word to any of them about this," Draco threatened.

"You actually think I would tell them?" Blaise scoffed. "Please, brother, have a little faith in me, will you?"

He stood up and strolled over to the door and swinging it open.

There stood Theo, Goyle, Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean and Seamus, carrying alcohol with massive grin's on their faces.

"Great," Draco groaned, his head falling back once again.

This was going to be a long night.

_End Authors Note: _So… how was it? Please say you liked it… because if you didn't … then I'll be really disappointed, because I actually really like this one (;

Next Update: Next Saturday!

_Reviews I was unable to reply to: _

Nurseratchet: Thank you! I'm glad you love it(: Hope you liked this chapter.

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	9. Chapter Nine

**Authors Note: **Hello M'dears! How are you all? ;D Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed last chapter. We got to 150 reviews! Well, 151, I think:L! I was like WOW! ;D.

So I've written and re-written this chapter like a gazillion times… and probably edited it just as much, so I'm really, really sorry if anything is wrong, or misspelled or whatnot. J Just point it out to me and I'll try and change it.

**IMPORTANT MESSAGE! **

So I want to know, shall I change this story to **'M' **rating? Because I want to know if you all want lemon's in it. I'm not fussed either way. It doesn't bother me if you want lemons, and it doesn't bother me if you don't. So every one, when you review (Please review ;) ) can you please let me know if you want a lemon or not? Because I don't want people to be unhappy if I change the rating or not. That's all for now. I hope you enjoy the chapter! J

Chapter Nine:

Saturday 19th September 1998. (Words: 3707) 

Hermione was up at nine, pacing the floor on the newly cleaned of the living-room. She'd woken up at dawn, to nervous to sleep any more.

It may have been due to the fact that she had a raging hangover.

"Hermione? What are you doing up already?" Ginny groaned from the door way of the bedroom.

Hermione spun around to look at her friend, who's hair was a haystack and had make up smeared down her face.

"I couldn't sleep," Hermione said softly.

"Nervous?" Ginny laughed, before moaning, grabbing her head. "Shouldn't have done that."

"Here," Hermione said, grabbing the little vial from the table that held the hang-over potion that she'd made an hour before.

"Thanks," Ginny said, taking it before downing it in one. "The girls will be here in a minute," she added as an after thought.

"Girls?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Yeah, you know, the one's who were here last night?" Ginny laughed before giving her friend a slightly worried look. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"What? Yeah I'm fine," Hermione said, nodding absentmindedly as she rearranged some flower's.

"No, your not. Tell me what's wrong," Ginny insisted, grabbing Hermione's hand, pulling her towards the sofa.

"It's just … I'm not sure I'm ready for this, Gin. A year ago, Draco and I were on two different sides of the war, and now we're getting married?" Hermione said, frowning. She ran one of her hands over her face, a trait she'd picked up from her father when they were stressed.

She wanted to marry Draco, she really did, but she just didn't know if it was right. He was her enemy, wasn't he?

"Look Hermione, I know you're nervous, but that boy has changed. Even a blind man could see that. He really, truly cares about you," Ginny said reassuringly.

"I know it's just … is caring about me really enough? For a marriage to work… there need's to be love! I'm just… I'm not used to people loving me," she said sheepishly.

"Well, you'll just have to get used to it, because in a few hours time you are going to be Mrs. Malfoy," Ginny teased.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione stood up when their was a knock at the door.

She walked over to the door and swung it open, to reveal Pansy, Luna, Daphne and Astoria.

"The other's are still in bed, extremely hung over," Luna commented as they walked in.

"Right," Pansy said, grabbing Hermione's hand and dragging her towards the bedroom. "Let's make you beautiful."

"Are you saying she isn't beautiful already?" Ginny smirked as she, Luna, Daphne and Astoria followed them.

"Of course she is. But when I'm through with her, she'll look even better. Drakey-kins won't be able to keep his hands off her," Pansy smirked, shoving Hermione down into the chair in front of the vanity table.

Over two hours later, Hermione sat stock still, looking at herself in the mirror. Her hair was done, as was her make up.

Her hair was half up, half down, and in loose ringlets. Her fringe was slightly wavy, and swept across her face slightly. She had little jewels here, there and everywhere, pinning her hair up in places.

Her make up, was like Ginny's had been the previous week, light and simple, but still beautiful.

"Well?" Pansy demanded.

"Well what?" Hermione asked, startled, looking up. What now?

"Do you like it?" she huffed.

"Oh, right, yes, of course I do. I look beautiful," Hermione said softly, smiling at her.

They had become quite close friends since the shopping trip, which was surprising. At least this marriage law helps the House unity, if anything.

"See, I told you," she said, smirking smugly. Pansy loved it when she was right, it made her head swell.

"Right, we'll leave you to it," Daphne said, standing up from the bed.

"We'll see you in a little while," Astoria said, smiling at her.

"Good luck," Pansy said, hugging her tightly. "And I'm so happy for you," she added in a whisper.

"Thank you, Pansy," Hermione said softly. She was glad Harry had made her invite Pansy on that shopping trip. She was an incredibly good friend, despite what she had once thought about the girl.

"It's all right. Now, we'll see you in a bit," Pansy said before they all, except Ginny, bounded out of the flat.

"I'll get you're dress," Ginny said, walking towards the wardrobe to get the dress.

This was it. She was going to put that dress on, her father was going to come up, and take her to the room of requirement and she was going to get married. She was going to be stuck with this man for the rest of her life. Could she do it?

Hermione began to panic as Ginny helped her into her dress, chatting along happily to her.

Ginny only noticed Hermione's silence when she asked her a question, and Hermione didn't answer.

"Hermione?" she tried again. No reply.

"Granger!" Ginny said loudly, grabbing the girls shoulders and shaking her forcefully, snapping her out of her reverie.

"I can't do this, Gin," Hermione said suddenly, sitting down on the bed with a flump, her breath coming out in pants.

"What?" Ginny said, shocked. "Why not?"

"I'm eighteen. I can't get married!" Her voice was more than a little hysterical by now.

"Hermione, I'm a year younger than you, and I got married just fine!" Ginny said, looking down at her friend. "And technically, you're nineteen. Happy Birthday!"

"I know that, Gin," Hermione sighed. " But you're braver than me. You have more confidence than I do. I'm not cut out for this… and thanks for reminding me… I completely forgot!"

Ginny looked at her for a few seconds, unsure what to say.

"Hermione, you are one of the bravest people I know. Think of all the things you've done in the past year!" Ginny said in exasperation. "You helped defeat one of the most powerful dark wizards of all time! As for the confidence, you have more confidence than anyone. Who else could stand up to a bunch of Death Eaters like you could? Who but you could fought against tens and tens of people about the rights of House Elves? Of course your cut out for this!" Ginny then gave her a strange look. "How on earth can you forget your own birthday?"

Hermione looked doubtful. She may have done those things, but she wouldn't have gotten any where without the support of her friends. They weren't going to be there for the rest of her life. She was going to be on her own with an ex Death Eater. With a man who couldn't stand her. No. That was a lie. Hermione knew for a fact that he didn't hate her. Not any more.

Hermione was just about to speak again when there was a knock at the door.

"That'll be your dad," Ginny said, looking towards the door of the bedroom. "Listen to me, Mione', you can do this. You and Draco are going to get married, and you are going to have beautiful children and live happily ever after. Just you wait and see."

With that, she turned around and left the room, going to let Mr. Granger in.

Hermione stood up and walked over to the mirror. She took a deep breath, taking in her appearance.

"Okay Hermione, you can do this," she told her self. "Ginny was right, you are a talented and extremely confident woman, there's no need to worry about something such as trivial as this. You can do this!"

Once again, taking a deep breath, Hermione walked towards the bedroom door and flung it open, squealing in fright when she saw her dad on the other side.

"Jesus, Hermione, you scared me!" he said, holding his chest.

"Do I really look that bad?" she tried to joke. It didn't make her feel any better.

"Of course not, honey. You look wonderful!" Mr. Granger said, pulling her into a tight hug. "My little girls all grown up! Nineteen today! Happy Birthday!"

There were tears in his eyes, making them sparkle. He handed her a present, which she placed on the bed, making a mental note to open it later.

"Oh, daddy!" Hermione said, trying her hardest not to cry. "You're going to make me ruin my make up!" she scolded. "Thank you for the present … though I did tell you not to bother."

She really hated getting presents.

"I'm sorry dear," he said, taking a handkerchief out of an inner pocket, wiping his eyes.

"We should probably head down before Malfoy storms up here, petrified if his wide to be has run off with a Bulgarian seeker," Ginny winked, causing Hermione to blush.

Hermione felt her stomach drop once again. Oh god. She was about to get married. To a Slytherin. Her children were going to be half Gryffindor, half Slytherin. They were going to be half-bloods. Their father was part of one of the most prejudiced families in the world.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Mr. Granger said, looking at his daughter with worry etched on his face.

"Let's just … get this over with, shall we?" she said, her breath coming out in short pants.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this? I'm sure you're ministry won't mind if you don't participate in this marriage law. You're a war hero, after all," Mr. Granger said, trying to reassure her.

Hermione shook her head.

"No, I have to do this. I have to do what I can to help, it's the way you and mum raised me, dad."

With that, she all but stormed out of her bedroom, down the hall and towards the front door, Ginny and Mr. Granger following close behind her.

Hermione was extremely stubborn. If she told herself at the start she was going to marry him, then god damn it she was going to marry him.

They made they're way to the room of requirement in a deathly silence. Both Ginny and Mr. Granger giving Hermione worried looks. She looked incredibly pale.

When they reached the room, they stopped outside it. Hermione took a deep, shaky breath.

"I'll just, uh, go in and let them know your ready," Ginny said, handing Hermione a bouquet of purple tulips. "Everything will be fine, Mione."

After giving her friend some reassurance, Ginny opened the door a little and slipped inside, closing the door behind her.

"Okay angel, are you ready?" Mr. Granger said from beside Hermione.

Come on, Granger, you can do this. You're _Granger_ for god sake. You can do anything!

She looked at her dad with a tight smile and nodded.

"Let's go."

Mr. Granger held up his arm for her to hold. Looping her arm through his, they walked towards the door.

Hermione braced herself as Mr. Granger opened the door. He led her forward, into the room.

Hermione gaped as she saw the interior. It was beautiful. Completely different from Ginny's wedding.

The wall and floor were a white marble. There were rows upon rows of white benches filled with awaiting guests. On the benches were green cloth banners, and there were vases of flowers here, there and every where. At the front of the room was a huge, white platform. On that platform was the minister, Draco and Blaise.

Everyone turned to face them as the entered the room, which made Hermione's heart beat faster and faster.

It felt like it was going to explode, however, when she noticed Draco looking at her with a soft smile on his face.

Was he really happy about this? Could he learn to love her? Hermione didn't know how long she could cope, being in a loveless marriage. It would drive her insane. She wanted to be like Mr. and Mrs. Weasley … still in love over twenty years after they were married.

Every step she took towards Draco she became a little more doubtful.

What would happen if they had an argument? She couldn't exactly move out, could she? She was stuck with him. Then there was the fact that they were to have children. She would be tied down by them … never aloud to leave because she had to stay with their father for the sake of them.

She would love them no matter what, there was no doubt about that, but she wouldn't love their father.

Because she didn't love him. She knew that. He didn't love her, either. There was no chance. You couldn't just throw two enemy's together for a few weeks and expect them to fall in love. It was impossible.

She was now stood right beside him, and her father walked to sit beside her mother at the front of the isle.

She did have feelings for him, though. Extremely strong ones. She could learn to love him. She knew she could.

Draco looked at her with a worried look on his face, and Hermione tried to give a reassuring look, but failed miserably.

This was it.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join Draconis Abraxas Malfoy and Hermione Jean Granger in matrimony, which is commended to be honorable among all men; and therefore - is not by any - to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly - but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly," the minister began.

Hermione tried to control her breathing. She was getting married. To Draco Malfoy. A ex Death Eater. He had probably killed people. Well, there was no probably about it. What if he turned one day and attempted to kill her?

No, Hermione, you mustn't think like that, she scolded herself. He is going to be your husband. You have to trust him! She did trust him! He would never do that to her!

Wait, what was the minister saying?

" - any person can show why they may not be joined together - let them speak now or forever hold their peace."

Hermione half hoped someone would stand up and shout .. "NO! She can't marry him!" in a dramatic tone of voice. She half expected it to be Ron.

But guess what? They didn't. There was just an awkward silence for a few minutes… the only sounds being made were coughs here and there.

"Well then, we shall proceed," the minister said, causing Hermione's attention to turn back to him.

"Do you, Draconis Abraxas Malfoy take Hermione Jean Granger to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Hermione couldn't look at Draco. Instead, she kept her eyes firmly on the minister, a porky, short wizard with hardly any hair on his head.

"I do," Draco said clearly, making Hermione's heart clench ever so slightly. He sounded so calm. Wasn't he having the internal battle with himself as she was?

"Do you promise to love and cherish her, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

There wasn't even any hesitation. How _was _he doing it? Hermione would be an emotional wreck by now, practically sobbing out her answer.

"Do you promise to welcome her into your home and family without a second thought?"

He didn't say anything for a few seconds. Hermione peaked at him out of the corner of her eye.

He was frowning. Maybe he would say no, turn around and run down the isle?

"I do."

Okay, maybe not. Oh god, it was her turn. She would have to repeat the same things he just had.

The minister turned towards her, a bright smile on his face.

"Do you, Hermione Jean Granger, take Draconis Abraxas Malfoy to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Did she? No, she didn't. But she had to, didn't she? There was nothing else she could do. She wanted to marry him, she really did …

"I do." she whispered.

-but she wasn't ready! Was she?

"Do you promise to love and cherish him, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto him, for as long as you both shall live?"

No. No, never, ever, ever. Not in a million years. Nadda. She was going to turn around, walk out of this room and never come back, wand be damned.

"I do,"

What? What happened! You're weak, Granger, weak, I tell you!

"Do you promise to welcome him into your home and family without a second thought?"

This is it, Hermione. Your last chance to get out of this a single woman. It isn't so bad that you get your wand snapped, banished from the wizarding world forever, now is it? You can live without magic! You lived with out it for eleven years, for Merlin's sake!

Come on girl, just say no! You don't want to marry him, and you know it. Your mother was right … you're far to young for this.

"Hermione?" the minister said, looking at her with raised eyebrows. "Do you promise to welcome him into your home and family without a second thought?" he repeated.

Then again, was it so bad, to marry Draco Malfoy? You'd never have to work again… he had more money in his Gringotts account than you'd earn in a lifetime. You'd be forever secure. You'd never have to worry about money! You could live in luxury!

"Hermione…" Draco hissed from beside her.

You have to answer, woman! It's now or never.

Gulping… Hermione opened her mouth.

"I - I do."

Her voice cracked, and she felt her gut clench. Oh god, oh god!

"Now, the giving of the rings!" the minister said, almost relieved. Blaise walked to the front, brandishing a emerald green velvet box from his pocket, handing it to the minister.

Inside, were a set of silver rings. Around the edge of one of them were little green emeralds, and red rubies on the other. Around the middle was a engraved dragon. They were beautiful.

The minister handed Draco the ring with the emeralds around it.

Hermione turned towards Draco just as he turned towards her. She gave him a small smile as he reached for her left hand. He lifter her ring finger and slowly slid the ring onto it, never lifting his eyes from her face.

Heart beating like a helicopter, Hermione then took the other ring from the minister and reached for Draco's hand. She slowly slid the ring on, looking into his stormy grey eyes. Would there ever be life in them? There had been, over the past few weeks. She had caught glimpses of it. But it wasn't always there, was it?

Once the ring was on, the minister began speaking again.

"By the power of Merlin, I now pronounce you man and wife… you may now kiss the bride."

Hermione froze. She would have to kiss him. In front of all these people. Sure, she had kissed him before, but that was when they were alone … or drunk. Extremely drunk.

Before she knew what was happening, Draco lent forward and rested his lips on Hermione's, causing her to gasp and the crowd to break out into cheers. "Happy Birthday, beautiful," he whispered into her mouth.

Everything was a blur then. Tens and tens of people came up to them both, congratulating them and wishing Hermione a happy birthday. A photographer took hundred's and hundred's of pictures, the flash almost blinding Hermione.

They were lead into the disused (and enlarged) classroom that was being used as the venue for the wedding reception. It looked exactly the same as it had for Ginny's reception, only it had more tables in it this time. Draco was an extremely popular wizard, and had had guests Port keyed in from all over the globe.

Hermione and Draco were all but shoved onto the dance floor for their first dance.

Hermione looked up at Draco nervously as he placed one hand on her hip and held her other hand in the air.

They started dancing around the room when the Muggle song 'Amazed' by Lonestar started playing. It was Hermione's choice, obviously.

"So what was with you just now?" Draco said as they danced.

Hermione looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean?"

He couldn't possibly have noticed her hesitation, could he?

"You looked -" he tilted his head to the side, as though searching for the right word. "Reluctant … to say yes, I mean."

Hermione didn't know what to say. She wasn't reluctant … she knew that.

"It wasn't reluctance, per say," she said, looking up at him, frowning slightly.

"Then what was it, Hermione? I thought we had gotten over the hostility?"

"We have!" she exclaimed, shocked that he would think any different. "It was more … fright, really."

Now it was Draco's turn to be curious… and confused.

"Fright? What could you possibly be frightened of?"

Hermione looked down. She suddenly felt ashamed.

"Hey, look at me," Draco said softly. Hermione rose her head slowly to look into his eyes. There was an emotion in them that she couldn't quite place.

"You can tell me anything, Hermione," Draco whispered. "Never be frightened to tell me anything."

"It's just …" Hermione started. "I'm only eighteen - nineteen, sorry. I never expected to be married so young. Especially not to a -"

"A Death Eater?" Draco said a little sadly.

"An ex Death Eater," Hermione corrected him. "I admit, it worried me a lot at first … but then I got to know you. You're nothing like I once thought you was. I now know I'm in no danger of you."

As Hermione said this, the song came to an end, and their audience applauded.

"We'll talk about this later," Draco said, smiling (a little tensely) down at her.

Hermione nodded, reached up and kissed him softly on the mouth.

"I'm glad I said 'I do', Draco," she whispered against his lips. It was true… she both regretted it and was glad.

"So am I, beautiful, so am I," he smirked.

**End Authors Note: **So I hope you all liked this chapter … I'm not exactly amazing at writing in description, so sorry if some of you dislike the way I wrote the wedding … not everybody's perfect, M'darlings. ;D!

If any of you haven't read the top Author's note, It's just to ask if you all want me to change the rating to **M **and have a few lemons or not. So either place your answer in a review, email or P.M me. But I do need to know. Thank you, dears!

**Reviews I was unable to reply to: **

Harmonious: Ahh, it sucks that you don't have a computer L Thank you! I think Ginny's one of the easiest to stay in character with; she's not too complicated to write. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Tale: Thank you! And don't worry, I will. J

Anepet: Ahh, welcome, darling! It's wonderful to have new readers! Thank you!

Mollyloumellon: Seven loves? You're making me blush, sweetheart! ;D I hope you liked this chapter!

Sorry if I didn't reply to anyone; I try my best. Don't forget, reviews are love… so review! They make me smile! And you know what happens if you have a happy author? LONGER CHAPTERS! ;D!

Love you all!


	10. Chapter Nine: Draco's Point of View

_Author's Note: Hello everyone! Have you had a good week? I must warn you, that this is not chapter ten. _

_A few of you mentioned that you'd like to have seen the wedding in Draco's point of view… I'm honestly an idiot for not thinking of putting it in … so any way, I decided to write chapter nine in Draco's point of view. _

_I would also like to add that the rating __will __be changed to _**'M' **_rating. I know some of you don't want it, but honestly, you were overruled. By a lot. So the way I'm going to do it, is not write any important information in the sex scenes … that way, you can just completely skip it without missing out on anything. _

_Sorry to all those who didn't want it to change! __J_

_You know, I feel like a complete Harry Potter nerd right now. I'm updating my Harry Potter Fanfiction, on my bed beside me I have the books 'Deathly Hallows' and 'Order of the Phoenix' … and I'm watching Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. (Sorcerer's Stone to some of you.) _

_Sorry for the extremely long A:N! ;D Like always, reviews I was unable to reply to will be at the bottom … oh, and I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed! We've got 184 reviews! Lets try and get to two hundred, yes? That would be amazing! _

_(Ohh my god; just got to the bit where you first see Draco! He looks so little! I forgot he used to says his 'R's like that)! _

_I love you all! ;D _

Realize; Chapter Nine: Draco's Point of View. 

(Words:3623.)

Draco was nervous. No, that was a lie. Draco was shitting himself.

He was getting married today. To _Granger. _The girl he had despised for so many years.

He had been up for hours now, pacing back and forth in Blaise's living room, debating with himself.

On one hand, he wanted to marry Granger. _Hermione, _he corrected himself. It was Hermione now.

He had become to hate her less and less over the past few weeks. He wasn't entirely sure he ever hated her, in fact.

It was more envy than anything. She always got top marks in every class they shared, whereas he was always second place, a fact his father was not happy about.

Then there was the fact of how he had been raised, and his father's beliefs.

_His father. _He had never despised any one more than he did his father. Not even the Dark Lord or saint Potter.

_Wait until Lucius finds out_, a voice in the back of his mind told him. _Wait until word get's out that you, Draco Malfoy, heir of the Malfoy family, the most richest and prejudiced family in the world, is marrying Mudblood Granger. _

He was definitely going to kill him, that's for sure.

"You're going to ware a hole in my carpet, Malfoy," a voice said from behind Draco, startling him. "Ginny will have you're head on a platter."

Draco turned around to see his best friend and best man, Blaise, standing at the entrance of the hallway that led to the bedroom, grinning.

"I'd like to see her try," Draco snorted. As if the Weasley girl could actually harm him.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Blaise chuckled, shooting him a evil smirk. "She's got one mean Bat Bogy hex on her, that one."

Draco rolled his eyes. He had to admit, though… that the redheaded girl was a little intimidating - if she wasn't a redhead, then she could easily pass as a Slytherin. Slytherins knew a Weasley from a mile off.

Draco sighed, running a hand through his messy locks.

"Nervous?" Blaise said, giving him a look of understanding.

"Wouldn't you be? If you were in my position," the blond said, flumping down on the settee.

"I suppose so, yes," Blaise nodding, sitting on the sofa opposite Draco. "You need to stop worrying about you're father, Drake."

Draco looked up, frowning.

"How did you know I was -"

"Drake, I've known you since I was three years old … trust me, I know."

It shocked Draco every time Blaise said that, which was a lot. Had he really known the boy for fifteen years?

"How can I not worry, Blaise?" Draco said after a few minutes of silence. "He's a murderous raving lunatic." **(Can anyone tell me what HP movie that line was from?) **

"I understand, Draco, trust me, I do," Blaise said softly. "But he's in Azkaban now."

"And what's to stop him escaping?" Draco said defiantly. "He's done it once before, so why not again?"

Blaise sighed. His friend was so stubborn sometimes. He was such a paranoid little twat, as well.

"Yes, he did escape," Blaise agreed. "But that was with the help of the Dark Lord. The security in Azkaban is much stronger now."

When Draco didn't say anything, Blaise continued.

"Drake, you need to stop being afraid of him. Move on. He's dictated your life for so long now - don't let him do it again. Not when you have a chance at happiness. You deserve it."

Draco felt like crying. He didn't, of course. Malfoy's didn't cry. Not that he particularly wanted to be a Malfoy.

"If he ever escapes, Zabini, I'll have you're head," Draco warned, earning a cheesy grin from the darker skinned boy.

"Come on, mate, you've got a wedding to get ready for," Blaise said, standing up. "We need to make you look sexy."

As he said this, he pulled Draco up from the sofa and shoved him towards the bathroom.

"Blaise, are you blind?" Draco said, rolling his eyes. "I'm always sexy."

"Don't I know it," Blaise winked before pushing Draco into bathroom and slamming the door.

"Idiot," Draco muttered, chuckling slightly as he stripped off his clothes.

Over twenty minutes later, the door to the bathroom swung open, to reveal a partially wet Draco, a fluffy white towel wrapped around his waist.

"Draco mate, put some clothes on," Blaise joked, buttoning up his white dress shirt. "I don't want the Misses to come back and decide that she's leaving me for you."

"Don't worry, you can have her," Draco smirked. Noticing Blaise's raised eyebrow, Draco continued. "Redheads … mmm, not really my style, mate."

Blaise laughed as Draco walked past him and into Blaise's room.

You could barely tell that a female stayed in the same room. The only indication that Ginny lived in there was a pair of high heels by the dresser. Other than that there was Quidditch magazine's lying around, a Quaffle and some other Quidditch related items.

"I take it Ginny isn't one for nesting, then?" Draco said, eyebrows raised. He pulled down the clothing bag hung on the edge of a portrait and unzipped it, pulling out his suit.

"Mate, all of this _is _Gin's," Blaise said, twirling the Quaffle around in his hands. "She's not exactly the girliest girl in the Wizarding world, is she?"

"I suppose so," Draco said. "Now get out so I can change."

Chucking the Quaffle at Draco, who caught easily, Blaise glared jokingly at the boy before leaving the room, muttering 'It's not like it's my room, or anything.'

Draco put his suit on in record time and was about to go let Blaise in when his eye caught his reflection.

There was an odd look on his face. The expression was rarely aloud on his face; he didn't show emotion. He wasn't aloud, his father taught him that.

But as Draco looked at himself, his cheeks flushed slightly, a small smile tugging at his lips, and a slight twinkle in his eye, he realized Blaise was right. His father was far, far away. He couldn't stop him from being happy. Draco wouldn't let him.

"You decent?" Blaise said, rapping his knuckles on the door. "I've seen you're butt way to many times, I don't fancy seeing it again."

Rolling his eyes, Draco walked over to the door and swung it open.

"Well, don't you look handsome?" Blaise commented as Draco fiddled with his tie. When he got it knotted, Blaise slapped his hands away.

"Seven years of wearing a tie, and you can't even do it up properly?"

"My hands are shaking!" Draco protested as Blaise finished tying his tie.

"That's no excuse," Blaise teased.

Draco walked back over to the mirror and fiddle with his hair.

"It's sticking up everywhere!" he moaned, trying to get it to stay flat.

"Just leave it," Blaise said, laying down on his bed, flipping through 'Quidditch Weekly.' "It looks better when you haven't done anything to it."

Draco looked at him in disbelief.

"You're lying."

Blaise closed his eyes, sighing. He lied back on the bed, muttering to himself.

"Drake," he said after a few minutes, sitting back up. "You're one of the most …" Awkward cough. "hottest guys in school, and you're worried about how you're hair looks?"

Draco let out a deep breath, looking at Blaise doubtfully.

"It's not my fault I'm nervous," he told him. "I'm marrying _Granger_."

"Speaking of which," Blaise said, jumping off the bed and looking at his watch. "You'd best get down to the Room of Requirement."

"Why, what time is it?" Draco said, panicking slightly.

"Half eleven," Blaise told him. "You've got around twenty minutes till Granger turns up."

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Draco nodded.

"Okay, let's go," he said.

As they made their way to the front door, Draco stopped suddenly, a horrified look on his face as he patted his pocket.

"Merlin, I've lost the fucking rings!"

"Drake," Blaise said, but was ignored by the blond, who was frantically looking around, throwing the sofa cushions across the room. . "DRAKE!" he said once again, much louder this time.

"What?" Draco jumped, spinning around to look at his friend. He was holding a little box in his hand.

"I've got them, you great oaf!"

"Thank fuck," Draco said, relieved.

"Now come on," Blaise laughed, taking hold of Draco's hand and dragging him out of the flat.

Fifteen minutes later, Draco was once again pacing, this time at the alter.

"She's not going to show up, is she?" he said, eyes wide. "My god, she's run off with Weasley!"

"Malfoy, I'm right here!" Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"Who said I was talking about you?" Malfoy glared. "There's so many of you."

Ron was just about to come back with some snarky retort, but Harry stopped him, shaking his head.

"He's nervous enough as it is," Harry muttered, eyeing the Slytherin. "I've never seen him like this before. He's always so - so composed."

"You should see what he's like in the Common Room," Pansy said, smiling fondly at the blond. "He's a complete nut half the time."

"Blaise, what if she's decided that she'd rather have her wand snapped than marry me? She hates me, doesn't she?"

Blaise bit the inside of his cheek and held his hands clasped tightly behind his back to stop him from slapping Draco. He could be such an idiot sometimes. Blaise wondered how he even survived being a Death Eater.

"Just, chill, okay?" Blaise told him. "She'll be here."

Draco nodded and stopped pacing, instead going to stand in front of the minister. Not five minutes after Draco's meltdown, the doors opened and Ginny walked in, walking up the isle to stand next to the other Brides Maids.

She looked at Blaise and gave him a huge grin, before looking at Draco's relieved expression and rolled her eyes.

"She's outside, you idiot," Ginny mouthed to Draco, who glared.

Draco turned around just in time to see the doors open again. His heart sped up and he felt a smile tug his lips. She looked absolutely breath taking. All he wanted to do was take her in his arms and never let her go.

_Jeesh, Draco, when did you become such a soppy prick? _

Pushing his thoughts aside, he watched as Hermione made her way towards him, a tight smile on her face.

That made Draco frown a little. It looked forced. When Hermione finally reached him, he shot her a worried look. Maybe she was sick?

_Or maybe she doesn't want to marry you,_ his inner voice said. _You are an Ex Death Eater, after all. _

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join Draconis Abraxas Malfoy and Hermione Jean Granger in matrimony, which is commended to be honorable among all men; and therefore - is not by any - to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly - but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly," the minister began.

Draco's heart thumped loudly in his chest and his stomach clenched. He was getting married. To the person who his father detested. To the person who he _used _to detest himself.

Draco had a blank expression on his face. He wouldn't let Hermione know how nervous he was. Nervous was a bit of an understatement. He was bloody petrified. But nonetheless, being nervous was showing weakness.

"Any person can show why they may not be joined together - let them speak now or forever hold their peace," the minister said, looking out expectantly at the crowd.

Draco half expected his father to burst into the room yelling 'NOOOO!'

Though, he would probably do it more gracefully. Well, if you could count storming into the room and shooting the Killing Curse at everyone in sight graceful.

However, nobody uttered a word. Draco didn't know if he should be relieved or not.

"Well then, we shall proceed," the minister said after a few minutes. "Do you, Draconis Abraxas Malfoy, take Hermione Jean Granger to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

He wanted to say no, for her sake. It would be her that his father would torture. It was her that had to spend the rest of her life tied down to a former Death Eater. Her having to feel embarrassed or shameful every time they were caught shopping together, receiving glares from people who hated Draco.

Keeping his emotions in check, Draco replied, "I do."

"Do you promise to love and cherish her, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her, for as long as you both shall live?"

Did he want to? Spend the rest of his life with her? He had to admit, it would be an interesting life. But could he deal with the pain of her hating him for ever? Because he knew, deep down that she could never love him.

Did he even want her to love him? He had no idea how he felt about her. One minute, he could tell that he cared about her, that he wanted to be with her, protect her and comfort her … but then sometimes she was just so infuriating that he couldn't bare to be in the same room as her. It was like a relationship with Bi Polar.

"I do," Draco found himself saying. No going back now, Malfoy.

"Do you promise to welcome her into your home and family without a second thought?"

Draco frowned. No, he didn't. He didn't want her in his home because it was not a nice place to be. The Manor held to many bad memories, even for her. She was, in fact, tortured in his very own living room.

She would have to face that every time she entered the room.

Though, they didn't have to live in the Manor. They could find themselves a nice little country home. It wasn't like he didn't have the money.

"I do."

Draco let out a silent breath when the minister turned to Hermione to repeat the vowels.

"Do you, Hermione Jean Granger, take Draconis Abraxas Malfoy to be you're lawfully wedded husband?"

Draco tensed, waiting for her answer. He expected her to say, 'Hell no, who on earth would want to marry him?"

But she didn't. Instead, she whispered an "I do."

Why did she whisper? Does she have something wrong with her throat? Maybe she _was _ill. There's a possibility. Or she could have a raging hang over. She had been pretty drunk the previous night when he'd seen her.

"Do you promise to love and cherish him, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto him, for as long as you both shall live?"

Draco held his breath, unable to even string two thoughts together.

"I do."

Draco let out the breath, his heart so loud it could pass as the beat of Dragon's wings.

"Do you promise to welcome him into your home and family without a second thought?"

She didn't say anything. Not for several minutes …in fact, the Minister had to repeat himself.

What on earth was she doing? She was just stood there like she'd been stunned! Maybe it was his father! He could be hidden in the back somewhere.

"Hermione," Draco hissed at her, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. Did she really not want to marry him? For some odd reason, Draco felt hurt by that thought.

_It's because you have feelings for her, you dolt, _his inner voice said. _When are you going to accept that? _

Never, if he could help it. He didn't want to have feelings for Granger. He was supposed to hate her! She was a mud- a mud- a mu-, oh for Merlin's sake, he couldn't even _think _the word any more.

_You've gone soft, Draco. _

"I - I do," Hermione stuttered finally, her voice cracking. Draco felt like the weight of the world had just been lifted from his shoulders.

"Now, the giving of the rings!" the minister said, relieved. Blaise walked forward, pulling out the ring box.

As he handed the box over, he winked at Draco before walking back to his place.

The minister gave Draco one of the rings, and he turned to face Hermione just as she was turning towards him.

She gave him a small, timid smile as he reached for her left hand. Returning her smile, he slid the silver ring onto her ring finger, his hands shaking like mad.

Not once did his eyes leave her face. It was like he was entranced by her beauty. He never really thought of Granger as beautiful. Well, not up until their 'eighth year' of course.

It was an odd feeling. She had always been the bushy haired bookworm to him. But now, she was so much more. The bushy hair had been tamed, somewhat, and was now just curly. She had filled out, as well.

Draco watched as Hermione took the ring from the minister, reached for Draco's hand and slid the ring onto his finger.

"By the power of Merlin, I now pronounce you husband and wife … you may now kiss the bride."

Wow. He was married. Granger was no longer Granger. That was going to take some time getting used to. He may call her Hermione out loud, but 80% of the time, he referred to her as Granger in his head.

Gulping slightly, Draco leant forward and rested his lips on Hermione's. The guests applauded and cheered.

"Happy Birthday, beautiful," Draco whispered against Hermione's mouth.

He wasn't sure what had made him say it. It was just an instinct.

Everything happened so fast then. Countless of people approached them, offering their congratulations. They then had hundreds upon hundreds of photographs taken of them.

Nearly twenty minutes after the end of the ceremony, they were ushered, by McGonagall, into the disused classroom which was being used for the wedding reception.

After five seconds of being in the room, Hermione and Draco were shoved into the middle of the dance floor for their first dance.

Draco didn't know the song that they were dancing too. It had been Hermione's choice, but as he listened to the lyrics, he could tell that it just … fit with the way he was feeling.

After doing a few twirls, Draco spoke.

"So what was with you just now?" he asked. He was just about dying to know.

She shot him a curious look.

"What do you mean?"

For a smart person, she could really be dense sometimes.

"You looked -" What was the word he was looking for? "Reluctant … to say yes, I mean."

That was it … she was reluctant! That meant she didn't want to marry him! Draco felt his heart drop slightly, and then swore mentally at himself for being such a sappy git. Again.

Hermione's mouth opened slightly and she had a slight frown on her face.

"It wasn't reluctance, per say," she said finally, looking up into his eyes.

"Then what was it, Hermione? I thought we had gotten over the hostility?"

He was sure they had passed that point in their relationship. After just a week or so, they had began to be more civil towards one another, maybe even friends. He didn't understand it.

"We have!" Hermione said, a shocked look on her face. "It was more … fright, really."

Draco shot her a confused look. Fright? Was she really afraid of him?

"Fright? What could you possibly be frightened of?"

He hoped to Merlin that she didn't say him.

Hermione looked down, unable to answer.

Draco feared the worst.

"Hey, look at me," Draco said softly. He hated to see her like this. He couldn't stand to see her upset. It almost… tore him apart. He almost cringed at that thought. He sounded like such a girl. A Gryffindor girl. Dosed up on three litres of the Weasleys love potions.

"You can tell me anything, Hermione," Draco whispered. Apart from that you hate me, he thought bitterly. "Never be frightened to tell me anything," he added.

"It's just …" Hermione started. "I'm only eighteen - nineteen, sorry," she corrected. "I never expected to be married so young. Especially to a -"

"A Death Eater?" Draco said bitterly. She hated that she was married to a Death Eater, he just knew it. How could she not? He was then when she was tortured by his deranged Aunt. He just stood there and did nothing. Like a coward.

"An ex Death Eater," Hermione said forcefully. "I admit, it worried me a lot at first …but then I got to know you. You're nothing like I once thought you was. I now know I'm in no danger of you."

But you are in danger of my father, he thought. He didn't want to subject her to that. She was in danger because of him. But yet, she didn't even know it.

Draco hadn't realized the song had finished until the crowd applauded once more.

"We'll talk about this later," Draco said, giving her a tight smile. Hermione surprised him by tiptoeing to kiss him gently on the mouth.

"I'm glad I said 'I do', Draco," she whispered against his mouth. Draco's heart bet a million miles a minutes and he felt a weird tingling sensation in the pit of his stomach. What _was _that?

"So am I beautiful, so am I," Draco told her, a smirk rising onto his mouth.

_End Authors Note: So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I enjoyed writing it, trust me. __J_

_Remember, don't forget to review M'little Chickens! _

Reviews I was unable to reply to: 

Tale: Thank you dear! I hope you liked this one, too! I really was stupid for not thinking about adding Draco's thoughts. I honestly didn't even think about it! But here you are! I hope you like hearing Draco's paranoid thoughts! J Thank you, dear! J

Blank: Ahaa, don't worry, M'love, I am! J

Lemonwuv: Yes, Lemon's! ;D! Aww, thank you so much! Reviews like these make me grin! ;D

Arwen: Thank you! I honestly try to keep it as real life as possible, as hard as it may be sometimes. ;D Ahh, yes, there is definitely another chapter! ;) Thanks for the review, sweetheart!

Christy86: I hope you like this chapter! J

Heartandsoul: Thank you! Aha, don't worry, it isJ

So that's all for now… if things go to plan, the next update will be up on Monday. That's right, Monday. This Monday! As in, the 6th. ;D! Thought I should update early, considering this isn't an official chapter. Well, according to my spreadsheet with all the chapters and their dates on it, it isn't.

Review, and I will send you a naked Draco. Actually… I won't … I'll keep him and send you a picture of a naked Draco. ;)

ILOVEYOU!


	11. Chapter Ten

_Author's note: I'm back! This is the quickest update I've ever done! I'm so proud of myself! _

_So, the Lemon's this chapter! Ahaa! Just to warn you all though … this will be my first ever lemon ever! So yeah, no pointing out bad things about it … or my self esteem will be shite and I'll never be able to write another one again. :L! So be gentle? ;) _

_I hope you all like this chapter! Don't forget… review! We reached 200 last chapter! _

_Oh, and a shout out to defined writers … there you go, dear ;D! _

_Oh, by the way, I will be putting a message before and after the lemon, informing people to not read it if they don't … you can skip it, it won' t have any information in it that you need to understand the story… _

_The message will be in bold and underlined ;D! _

_Read on, my darlings! _

Chapter Ten: 

Saturday 19th September 1998. (Words: 4125.) 

Once Hermione had finished her dance with Draco, she then proceeded to have the Father and Bride dance with Mr. Granger.

They danced to yet another Muggle song (surprise, surprise). This song was 'Thank you for loving me' by Bon Jovi.

"You truly do look beautiful, Hermione," he said, smiling down at her.

"Thank you, daddy," Hermione whispered.

"You look so grown up," he said, tears in his eyes. "Just the thought, that you're never going to come back home again!"

"Oh dad," Hermione said, her eyes welling up. "Of course I'm going to come back… just because I'm married and I'm going to be living somewhere else, it doesn't mean that I'll never see you again!"

Mr. Granger choked back a sob.

"I know, angel … it's just so hard, you know?" he whispered to her.

"I know, daddy, I know," Hermione said, feeling a tear roll down her cheek. "But just think, you'll have all my books out from under you're feet, now!" she tried to joke.

Mr. Granger smiled slightly as the song came to an end.

"I love you, dad," Hermione whispered.

"I love you too, pumpkin," he said, taking out his handkerchief once again to wipe his eyes. "Now, I best go see to your mother … you know what she can get like once she's …unattended."

Hermione did know. Her mother would approach everyone she could and wouldn't stop talking. For hours.

Hermione stood in the middle of the dance floor for a few minutes, watching as couples approached the floor and began dancing. Hermione smiled happily when she saw Harry spinning Pansy around, grinning widely. She was happy for Harry, she really was. He had changed since the war. Had become more … reserved and reclusive. It was nice to see him smile again.

Hermione jumped a foot in the air when two arms wrapped around her waist.

"Merlin, Draco!" she said, spinning around to look at him. "You scared the death out of me."

"I'm sorry, my love," he said, resting his forehead against hers. "That was not my intentions."

"And what were you're intentions, Mr. Malfoy?" Hermione said, smirking up at him.

"To ask you if you have had a wonderful birthday?" he said, closing his eyes, smiling softly. He truly was beautiful when he smiled. Much more so than when he was scowling or glaring. Hermione preferred this Draco to the old one.

"I have to say that I have," Hermione said, beaming. It truly had been an excellent day … even with Hermione's doubts about tying the knot.

"Hmm, good!" Draco said, not opening his eyes. "And let's just say you'll get you're present from me later on."

Hermione huffed.

"I thought I told you not to buy me anything?"

"And I thought I told you I didn't care if you thought I shouldn't get you anything?"

Hermione glared half-heartedly.

"You'll just have to return it!"

Draco smirked, his eyes opening finally.

"It's not the type of present you can return," he told her.

Hermione looked at him with a confused look on her face.

"What on earth do you mean?" she said, raising her eyebrows at him. For a smart person, she was oddly oblivious.

"Well…" he said trailing off. He bent his head forward to whisper in her ear. Whatever Draco had whispered to her had made her blush furiously.

"Draco Malfoy!" she said, giggling slightly, blushing furiously.

"Hermione Malfoy!" he grinned.

Hermione smiled softly.

"You know, I think I could get used to that."

"Get used to what?"

"Being Mrs. Malfoy," she whispered up at him.

"Well good," Draco said. "You know, I've only ever had one proper relationship and that went tits up … I want to make this one work," he told her sincerely, resting his forehead against hers once more.

"That's sweet, Draco," Hermione beamed.

Draco glared down at her slightly.

"Draco Malfoy is not sweet," he told her firmly.

"You are now, Malfoy!" Hermione grinned wickedly. "You've gone soft on me!"

"Why you little -" Draco started, but couldn't continue… as Hermione had kissed him. Quite vigorously, too.

They kissed for what seemed like ages, and only broke apart when a flash and the sound of a camera was heard not two feet away.

Their heads snapped around to see Narcissa stood there, grinning at them.

"Gotcha!"

Draco glared and Hermione blushed bright red.

"Mother! What do you think you are doing?"

"What does it look like, Draco dear? Taking pictures for the albums! Now smile and say … Pumpkin Pasty's!"

Hermione managed to force a smile on her face as another flash appeared in front of them. She was going to be in a Malfoy Photo Album. Her, a Mudblood. Wow.

"It's time to cut the cake!" Mrs. Weasley shouted from not far away, grinning madly as she held up a knife.

"You know, if she'd chased after the Dark Lord with that knife and expression, you'd have defeated him long ago," Draco muttered as Hermione dragged him over to the table.

Hermione laughed.

"And if the British Army had sent a bunch of women after Hitler, World War 2 would have been over quicker, too."

"What in Merlin's name is a Hitler?" Draco said, a petrified look on his face as Mrs. Weasley thrust the knife at him, forcing him and Hermione to hold hands.

"The Muggle equivalent of Voldemort," Hermione said as a bunch of camera's flashed around them when the cut the first slice of they're five storied, white wedding cake.

"Don't they just look gorgeous together?" Pansy cooed from a few feet away from the cake, snapping pictures on her brand new camera. Harry had bought it for her especially. He was always showering her with wonderful gifts.

"I hate to admit it, but yeah, they are," Harry said, nodding. He shuffled forward slightly before wrapping his arms around Pansy's waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. Pansy tensed slightly before relaxing. She'd still not gotten used to her and Harry acting this way.

Pansy turned her head to look at him, a slight smile on her face.

"Are you happy, Potter?" she almost whispered.

"Happy?" Harry asked, eyebrows raised. What a random question.

"Yes… you know, with our pairing?"

It shocked Harry that Pansy looked almost, dare he say it, scared.

"Yes," Harry said after a while. "I have to say I am. I never thought I'd actually enjoy being with you. The Ministry have finally done something right."

Pansy quirked an eyebrow.

"They have?"

"Yes… by bringing this Marriage Law in… if they didn't … then I'd never get the chance to say this," Harry said smiling. "EGO sum occursus diligo vobis, Pansy

**( 'I am falling in love with you, Pansy' In Latin… lets hope the translator was correct!) **

Pansy's eyes widened. She obviously understood what he had said.

"Really?" she whispered. She had never been loved before. What an odd sensation it was.

Harry nodded.

She suddenly rolled her eyes.

"You're so dramatic, Potter," she told him. "But … EGO reputo EGO sum occursus diligo vobis , quoque, Potter."

**('I think I am falling in love with you, too, Potter.' Again, let's hope the translator was correct! ) **

"Having a good night, love?" the dark skinned boy said from behind the redheaded girl.

Ginny turned around to see her husband, Blaise, holding two cups of punch.

"It's been amazing," Ginny said, taking a cup and sipping it. "They look happy, don't they?"

She nodded towards Hermione and Draco, who were slow dancing.

"Yeah, they do," Blaise agreed, pecking Ginny on the cheek. "So do you."

Ginny turned around to look at him, beaming.

"Of course I do! I'm married to a wonderful wizard," she said, grinning at him.

"Oh," he said, frowning. "I guess I shouldn't ask you out on a date then …you're husband might deck me."

Ginny laughed loudly, causing Mrs. Weasley, who was two tables away to smile happily at the couple.

They didn't speak for a few minutes, just cuddled happily.

"I think - I think in a few days time I'm going to go see Madam Pomfrey," Ginny said suddenly.

"Why? Are you sick?" Blaise said worriedly.

"No, I'm fine," Ginny chuckled. "I just thought maybe I should, you know … check."

"Check?"

"Check," Ginny confirmed. At his blank look, she elaborated. "You know, for mini Blaise's?"

Comprehension dawned on his face and he grinned.

"Yes, I think you should definitely check."

The party went on for hours … Hermione was worried it would never end!

When it was ten to twelve, McGonagall announced that guest's had to leave due to the 'rowdiness'.

Hermione walked over to her parents, smiling.

"Have you had a good night?" she said as her mother collected her coat.

"Oh, it's been wonderful dear!" her mum beamed. "Mrs. Malfoy is an excellent woman! You know, she has an antique table… from Egypt!"

"Oh," Hermione said, nodding. "That's wonderful!"

She was rather shocked that Mrs. Malfoy had bothered to speak to her parents. They were Muggles after all.

"Hermione," Draco said from behind her. Hermione turned around to see him leading his mother over to them.

When the pair reached the Granger's, Draco put his arm around Hermione's waist. "Mother wants to say goodbye."

"Hermione dear," Narcissa said with, surprisingly, a warm smile on her face. Whether it was genuine or not, Hermione couldn't be sure. "You look absolutely beautiful!"

Narcissa reached forward and pulled the young girl into an embrace. "That dress is just to die for," she told her as she pulled away. "Mr. and Mrs. Granger, it was lovely to meet you."

"Yes, it was! We'll have to have tea one day," Mrs. Granger said, smiling.

"Of course!" Narcissa said, smiling brightly at her. "I'll be on my way now. Draco, I'll write in a few days time."

"Goodbye, Mother," Draco said, giving her a tight hug.

"We'll be off too, dear," Mr. Granger said, smiling. "You'll write to us, won't you, Hermione?"

Hermione walked forward and pulled both her parents into a tight hug.

"Of course I will! I love you both," she whispered, kissing her mother and father on the cheek.

"We love you too, dear," Mrs. Granger said, smiling. "Ah, there's Professor McGonagall, she's taking us home."

"We'll see you soon, darling."

"Bye! I love you!" Hermione said, smiling softly.

And with that, they were gone.

Nearly half an hour later, Hermione and Draco arrived back at their flat, after bidding their goodbyes to everyone and thanking them for coming.

"Who knew a wedding would be so exhausting," Hermione said as she entered the bedroom behind Draco, taking her necklace off and dumping it on the dresser.

"Well," Draco said, turning around to smirk at Hermione. "I hope you're not too exhausted, if you know what I mean."

Hermione blushed and looked down. She was about to have sex with Draco Malfoy.

"Hey," Draco said, walking forward. He placed his hand on Hermione's chin, brining her head up to look at him. "What's wrong?"

"I - nothing," she said unconvincingly. He raised his eye brows at her giving her a look that said, 'Yeah, because I believe you'. "Really … I'm just nervous, I guess."

"Nervous?" Draco's face paled. "Please don't tell me you've never -?"

"What? Oh yeah, I have! Once …"

"Thank god … I've taken someone's virginity before, and let me tell you … there was blood everywhere! I nearly fainted!" Draco blushed.

Hermione snorted.

"You faint at the sight of blood? Some Death Eater you make!"

"If you tell anyone this, I will kill you," he warned, glaring down at her.

"Make sure you strangle me or something … wouldn't want there to be any blood."

"Shut up," Draco whined.

"Make me!" Hermione grinned.

Draco's expression darkened as he looked down at her.

"Is that a challenge?" he whispered huskily.

Hermione's heart began to race.

"What are you gonna do if it is?" she said, looking up at him, a slight smirk on her face.

**(SKIP THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ THE LEMON! ;D!) **

He didn't say anything, only bent his head down further, kissing her softly. He wrapped his arms around her back and began rubbing his hands up and down in soothing motions.

When Draco's tongue swept across her bottom lip, Hermione gasped, allowing him entrance to her mouth. His tongue dove inside, swiping against her own softly.

Hermione moaned lightly, reaching up to thread her fingers through his hair. It was so soft! Hermione could keep her hands there forever!

Draco reached his hand up to the zip of Hermione's dress, pulling back to look into her eyes.

"May I?" he said quietly, his breath slightly panted.

Hermione nodded, unable to speak.

He pulled the zip down slowly, not looking away from her eyes once. When the zip was undone, Hermione's dress slipped down her body gracefully, pooling around her feet.

She was well aware that she was now only covered up by the silky white matching bra and panties she wore, and the little garter around her left thigh.

Draco bit his lip as he looked her up and down, a hungry look in his eye.

"You know," Hermione said, smirking slightly. "I don't think it's very fair that I'm half naked, yet you're still fully clothed."

She stepped out of her Dress, stalking towards him slightly. Bringing her hands up to his chest, she undid his waist coat, slipping it off his shoulders.

He didn't say anything, only watched Hermione undress him, excitement clear as day on his face.

When Hermione got to his trousers, and was just about to unzip them, Draco grabbed her hands, stopping them.

"What-?" she asked confused, looking up at him.

He smirked before spinning her around and began walking forwards, making her walk backwards towards the bed.

When the back of Hermione's knee's reached the end of the bed, she fell backwards, gasping in surprise.

Draco climbed on top of her, straddling her almost.

"Hmm," he said, leaning forward to run his nose along her jaw line and down her neck. "I've waited a long time for this, you know."

He began placing feathery kisses along her collar bone, moving lower and lower each time.

"Y-you have?" Hermione stuttered when his kisses reach the top of her right breast.

"I have indeed," he said before grabbing the lace of her bra between his teeth. "This so need's to come off," he murmured, mostly to himself.

Letting go of Hermione's bra, he brought his hand up, stroking it lightly across the top of her breast, moving it around to reach behind her for the clasp.

Once he'd undone the bra, he pulled it off her arms, throwing it over his shoulder.

"You're so … beautiful," Draco whispered, looking down at her bare chest.

Hermione blushed and went to move her arms to cover her chest up, only to be stopped by Draco.

"No - don't be embarrassed," he told her, pulling her hands above her head. He leant down and began kissing her breasts softly, inching slowly and slowly towards her nipple.

Letting her hands go, Draco stuck his tongue out, letting it swipe across her left nipple, feeling it pebble under his touch.

He gently sucked it into his mouth, causing Hermione to moan quietly. After caressing the same piece of flesh for a few minutes, he switched to the other breast, bringing his hand up to massage the previous one.

Draco began to slide down the bed slowly, placing kisses between the valley of Hermione's breasts and down her stomach. He groaned slightly when his now fully erect penis rubbed against the end of the bed. How was it possible to get so hard it such a short space of time?

Draco stopped just above the rim of Hermione's panties, nipping her hip bone slightly with his teeth. He brought his hands down and placed them on her thighs, massaging them slightly.

He looked up at Hermione, who was looking down at him, a flushed look in his face.

"If you want me to stop, just let me know," he told her, his hands sliding up slightly, fingering the waistband of her underwear.

"Don't stop," she whispered, shaking her head.

He gave her a dazzling smile before spreading her legs slightly, his head leaning forward. He pressed his nose lightly into the skin just above her panties, placing butterfly kisses on the silk.

Hermione moaned again when Draco sucked her clitoris through her underwear.

Draco's cock twitched at the sound of her moan. Could any one get any more sexy?

He brought his hands up and hooked his fingers in the top of her panties, sliding them down slowly.

He almost panted when he saw the bare skin of her vagina, already dripping in anticipation.

"Merlin, Hermione," Draco muttered, throwing her underwear in god knows what direction. "You're going to be the death of me, I swear."

Hermione giggled, the blush still evident on her face.

She was excited. Blimey was she excited.

"Oh god," Hermione gasped when she felt Draco's tongue sweep the entire length of her.

"Merlin, you're so wet," Draco groaned, sucking her clit, causing Hermione to buck her hips.

Draco brought his hand up and began massaging her with his thumb, Hermione moving her hips in motion with him, her breaths coming out in hot, breathy pants.

"More, Draco," she gasped, closing her eyes tight.

Draco 'mmmed' against her before entering his middle finger inside, pumping in and out slowly.

"D-Draco … faster," Hermione moaned, biting her lips. She couldn't take it… she needed _more! _

Draco began moving his hand faster and faster, his other hand reaching down to his trousers to unbutton them. He was now painfully hard … it almost hurt for him to keep his trousers on.

"Oh god, oh god!" Hermione chanted as he entered yet another finger.

"Hermione - I need -" he said, biting her thigh slightly.

Hermione sat up and grabbed his hand, stopping his vigorous actions.

She grabbed the tops of his arms and pulled him up, his body sliding against hers.

Her hand slid down his chiseled chest, down to that gorgeous V to grab onto his trousers and boxer shorts, pushing them down in one motion.

Hermione's mouth dropped when his cock was released, springing up towards his stomach. It was _huge! _Bloody hell, that was going to hurt.

"Don't worry," Draco smirked, seeing where her gaze was directed. "I'll be gentle."

Hermione rolled her eyes and shuffled further up the bed slightly.

Draco followed her, his eyes darkened with lust. He grabbed her legs and spread them apart, breathing heavily.

He moved forward grabbing her hips with one hand, and holding his erect penis with the other, guiding it towards the warm, wet and glorious vagina.

He pushed his member at her entrance, sliding in inch by inch, extremely slow.

"Fuck me, Hermione," he groaned. "You're so god damned tight."

The feeling of her around him was almost too much to bare. At this rate, he wasn't going to last five minutes!

Hermione gasped, clenching around him as he started to pump inside her.

"Merlin - fuck!" she stuttered, thrusting her hips up to match his movements.

This was insane! Could anything feel any more amazing? Hermione felt like she was going to explode!

"mmm, Draco," Hermione moaned when he grabbed her right leg and lifted it up, hooking her knee over his shoulder.

The feeling was even more sensational in this position … he his that _spot _over and over, making Hermione scream so loudly she was sure the whole of Hogwarts could hear her.

"Oh god!" Hermione cried, her one hand flying to Draco's hair and the other to his free shoulder, digging her nails in.

He moaned slightly and Hermione wasn't sure if it was in pleasure or in pain. Maybe it was a mixture of both?

Draco stopped suddenly and pulled out, causing Hermione to look at him in slight confusion. Before she could ask what he was doing, however, he had flipped them over so that he was now lying on his back and she was sat on top of him.

He shot her a wicked grin before sliding back inside her, ever so slowly, making Hermione groan impatiently.

"Draco, please!"

Draco didn't need to be told twice … with that, he started bucking his hips up at an incredible speed, Hermione rocking forwards with his motions, her breasts bouncing ever so slightly.

"Shit, Hermione - I -" Draco moaned as Hermione tightened around him, letting out an extremely loud moan, her head dropping back slightly and her mouth opening in pure pleasure.

Draco had never seen anything more beautiful. Who knew that some one could look so perfect while having an orgasm?

Draco's movements sped up, his balls tightening painfully … he was close, there was no doubt about that.

"Fuck, Hermione … fuck, fuck, fuck!" he said before letting go, shooting his seed inside her at an alarming rate.

When he finally stopped, Hermione let out one last moan before all but collapsing on top of him.

They didn't speak for a little while, just laid still, there chests heaving, panting heavily.

"Fuck me," Hermione said nearly ten minutes later.

"What, again?" Draco said, smirking down at her. She was currently laid beside him with her head on his chest.

Hermione looked up at him, rolling her eyes.

"You're an idiot."

"And you're amazing in bed," Draco countered, winking.

Hermione blushed, letting out a little giggle.

"Shut up."

**(CONTINUE READING! NO MORE LEMON'S FROM THIS POINT ONWARD'S … THOUGH THERE IS THE MENTION OF SEX… JUST NO ACTUAL, YOU KNOW … SEX!) **

"You know, you weren't exactly bad for a second timer," Draco said a few minutes later.

"Er, thanks?" Hermione said. He really did know how to flatter a girl.

"Who was you're first time with, anyway?" he asked curiously.

Hermione tensed up. She couldn't exactly tell him, could she? It would be extremely awkward.

"Why do you want to know?" Hermione said a little nervously.

"I don't know, I was just asking," Draco said, giving her a look. "Why are you so nervous?"

Hermione sat up and ran a hand through her messy hair.

"Who said I was nervous?"

Well Hermione, that sentence just practically screamed nervousness.

"It's blatantly obvious to see," Draco said, he two sitting up. "Is it one of my friends?"

"What? No!" Hermione said, shooting a glare at him. "Why would you think that?"

"Well I don't know, because you're acting all suspicious!" Draco said, his voice raising ever so slightly.

"Don't you shout at me, Draco Malfoy!" Hermione said, she too, raising her voice.

"Well I wouldn't have to if you didn't refuse to tell me who you had sex with!"

"Why are you so god damned bothered?" Hermione yelled, wrapping the bed sheet around her. She didn't exactly feel like being naked in front of him right now.

"I'm not bothered!" Draco said, glaring at her

"Oh yeah? Doesn't seem that way to me," she snapped sarcastically.

"Why are you making such a big deal out of this? I only asked you a simple question, for Merlin's sake!" Draco said in exasperation.

"Me making a big deal out of it? Me?" Hermione asked in disbelief. "You're the one who's flying off the handle because I won't tell you who I've slept with … you don't see me asking you how many sluts you've slept with and who they are, do you?" she shouted.

"This has got nothing to do with me!" Draco snapped coldly, getting of the bed to grab his robe.

"Where the hell are you going?" Hermione ground out as he made his way towards the door. "We haven't finished this discussion!"

"Out!" he glared, swinging the door open. "Not even five minutes into the marriage and you've already caused an argument!"

With that, he slammed the door shut behind him.

Hermione's face dropped. It wasn't her fault! He was the one who started it! Why did he want to know so badly? She didn't ask him who he'd lost his virginity too, did she?

Hermione didn't realize she was crying until a teardrop hit her top lip.

How could he have said such a thing to her? Why would he say such a thing to her? She thought he had cared… well, that's something she was obviously wrong about. He obviously didn't give a damn about her!

That was the first night in a long time that she'd cried herself to sleep.

_End Author's note: So, how was it? Was it as crap as I think it is? I was incredibly nervous about posting this, as it's my first ever lemon. Please be gentle ;)! I'm not exactly thrilled with the ending, but eh, what can you do? _

_As always, the reviews I couldn't reply to will be below ;D! Love you all! _

Ana: Ahaa, nope, you get one … it's in the post ;) Aww! I'm honored that you would stay up so late… but please don't fail you're final because of me? I would feel so bad! :L

Aww, I'm glad I got you on board with the marriage law idea! Thank you! Don't worry, I won't ;D! Again, thank you!

AddictedToU: Wow, really? You honestly think it's the best? Awww! Thank you so much! It's my pleasure! I will, don't you worry! I'm glad you like it!

Mollyloumellon: Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter!

Tale: Thank you! I know! Draco is just like everyone else with his emotions! He is, after all, a human being. ;D! I'm glad you liked it! I must admit, I didn't think people would find it funny… but I'm glad they did! It's something I imagined Draco would say! ;D!

Thank you! Oh, really? I still grin whenever I see you're name in my email's, though. ;D!

Defined writers: Ahaa, don't worry, I won't. :L I hope you liked the mention at the top ;D! Uh, how would you like me to inform you that the next chapter is due? You're on Anon, so I can't really contact you "/ I'm sixteen… (Well, almost! ;D) It does? Thanks!

Fallfromreality: N'aww, thank you! You have an OMG dance? SAME! Thank you! I know, it's nice hearing a little of Draco's thought's now and again, isn't it? I'm glad you liked that part! I'm proud to say that a few other's liked it, too. ;D! Thank you, dear! ;D!

_So that's all for now! I hope you all enjoyed it! Toodles! _

_P.S: Next update will be up on Saturday as usual. ;D! _


	12. Chapter Eleven

_Authors note: _SO, SO, SO sorry that this is a week late. Let me tell you, things have been hectic. I've had a college interview and four exams this week. I haven't even had time to walk my bloody dog, let alone post this! Honestly, how hard it is being in your last year of High school!

Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter, and thank you to everyone who's reviewed! I haven't had the chance to reply to everyone, but I will get around to it eventually. Well, I hope! We now have 229 reviews! WHOOP! (; Let's try and meet the 250 mark by next chapter, shall we? ;)

Read on, M'lovlies!

Chapter Eleven:

Sunday 20th September 1998. (Words: 3604.) 

Hermione woke the next morning the someone pounding on the front door.

Wincing at the sudden brightness, Hermione sat up, shielding her eyes.

She let her eyes wander to the empty space in the bed next to her and sighed. She had hoped that the previous night had been a dream. She had hoped that she would wake up, a huge grin on her face, and see her husband snoring softly beside her.

When there was another round of pounding at the front door, Hermione finally snapped herself out of her thoughts and climbed out of bed.

She shuffled over to the vanity table and looked briefly in the mirror.

Her hair was stood up at all angles, her face was blotchy and her eyes were puffy and red.

"Great," she sighed before standing up straight once again, walking swiftly out of the bedroom door.

When she reached the front door, she stopped and took a deep breath, preparing herself. She half expected Draco to be on the other side, ready for round two. She didn't know if she could cope with that … not right now, any way.

"Hermione, I know you're in there… don't ignore me!" a shriek came from the other side of the door. "Hermione!"

Wait - that wasn't Draco's voice!

Swinging the front door open, Hermione let out a sigh of relief.

"Ginny!" Hermione said, forcing a smile on her face. "Sorry, I thought you were…"

She trailed of and tried to swallow the lump that was rising in the back of her throat.

"What? Your glorious husband?" Ginny bit out. The redhead stormed past her friend and into the living room.

"Come in, why don't you," Hermione muttered sarcastically, swinging the door shut.

When Hermione spun around, she noticed Ginny sat on the sofa, arms crossed.

"What can I do for you, Gin?"

"You want to tell me why Draco came storming into our flat at who knows what time this morning?"

Hermione's stomach dropped.

"Ah, that."

"Yes, that," Ginny said, eyebrows raised. "And by the way, you owe us a new sofa."

"What? Why?" Hermione said, completely baffled.

"Because your delectable husband blew it up beyond repair!"

Hermione's eyes widened. Draco had blown up their couch? Hermione brought her hands up to run them over her face.

"Jesus, Ginny, I'm sorry," Hermione apologized, sitting beside her.

"Don't worry about it," Ginny said dryly, waving her hand. "Now, you want to tell me why he blew it up in the first place?"

Hermione bit her lip. What would Ginny think when she told her? Would she think Draco was being stupid and overreacting? Or would she think that _Hermione _was being stupid and overreacting?

"Well…" Hermione started hesitantly. "Everything started off brilliantly!"

"You mean the - you know - sex?" Ginny said, coughing awkwardly afterwards.

Hermione flushed bright red.

"Yeah …"

"Was it any good?" Ginny said suddenly, grinning wildly.

"Gin!" Hermione gasped, and if possible, flushing an even brighter shade of red. "You can't ask me that!"

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"And why ever not? I want to see if his reputation upholds him."

"Well I'm not going to tell you!" Hermione said, glaring slightly.

Ginny chuckled.

"So what was it then?" Ginny inquired.

"Well, he asked who my first time was with," Hermione muttered. "And I didn't particularly want to enlighten him."

Ginny shot her an understanding look.

"You're going to have to tell him eventually, Hermione," Ginny said after a moments pause.

Hermione shot her a weary look.

"Tell him? How the hell can I tell him? He already went loopy when I _wouldn't _tell him who it was…"

"I know, Hermione," Ginny said gently. "But you can't have a marriage based on lies. It's immoral."

Hermione gave Ginny a scathing look.

"You sound like my mother."

Ginny rolled her eyes once more.

"By the way," Hermione said, looking at Ginny's clothing. "What are you wearing?"

The redheaded girl was wearing a light green, silk strapless dress. Her hair was on the side in a nice, fancy looking bun, and she had light green dust on her eyelids.

Ginny gave her a blank look.

"What do you mean, what am I wearing?"

"Well, you look all dressed up -" Hermione started, nodding at the other girl.

"Hermione, it's Harry's wedding today!"

Hermione slapped a hand to her mouth and her eyes widened comically.

"Oh my goodness!" she shrieked. "How could I forget such a thing?"

"Well," Ginny said, standing up. "By the sounds of it you've had a lot on your mind. Now, come on."

Ginny grabbed Hermione's hand and all but dragged her from the sofa, leading her into the latter's bedroom.

Just over half an hour later the two girls left the Malfoy's flat and began walking down to the Room of Requirement.

Hermione had decided on a black halter necked dress with small, white polka dots all over it and a little black bow around the middle. Her hair in a curled up-do.

"Do you think Draco's going to be there?" Hermione whispered as they approached the door.

Outside were a few guests, laughing and talking amongst themselves.

"Obviously he's going to be there, Hermione," Ginny said in a slightly exasperated voice. "Pansy's one of his closest friends."

"Right," Hermione said, nodding. She gulped loudly as they entered the room.

After looking around for a few seconds, the girls finally spotted Harry, Ron and Blaise at the front of the room, stood right beside the alter.

Hermione's heart raced ever so slightly when she couldn't find Draco's familiar platinum blond hair any where in the pews.

"Harry!" Ginny said when they approached, causing Hermione to

snap her head towards the boys. She hadn't noticed that they'd already approached them.

"Hermione, Ginny!" Harry grinned, pulling them both into a tight hug. "It's great to see you!"

"It's wonderful to see you, too, Harry," Hermione said, smiling at him. "Are you nervous?"

"Only a little," Harry said, shrugging. "Where's Malfoy?"

Hermione's face paled and she opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. What was wrong with her?

"Hermione?" Harry said, shooting his friend a worried glance. "Something the matter?"

"Nope," Hermione said, shaking her head forcefully. She wasn't going to ruin Harry's day whining about her own problems. "Nothing's the matter. He'll be along shortly, I expect."

Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear. Just as Hermione finished her sentence, the doors to the Room of Requirement opened once more and Draco strode in, a confident air about him.

Hermione's eyes locked with his. There it was again. The cold look. No emotion. Merlin, he hated her, didn't he? He wanted a divorce. God, he was going to live in the Muggle world just because he couldn't stand to be with her.

"Harry," Draco said when he approached them, his eyes firmly on Hermione's face. "How're you feeling this morning?"

Hermione shot her eyes to the ground, unable to look into his eyes any longer. She hated seeing that look.

"I'm feeling great… excited as hell!" Harry beamed.

"Good - that's good," Draco said, quietly.

After a awkward silence, Hermione raised her head, looking directly at Harry.

"I'm going to take a seat," she said quietly. "Good luck."

With that, she spun around and walked away, wedging herself in-between Mrs. Weasley and George, leaving no room for her husband.

Hermione's plan to avoid Draco, however, failed miserably when he took a seat directly behind her.

She could feel his eyes on the back of her head as Astoria and Daphne Greengrass and Millicent Bullstrode made their way down the isle in their matching dresses.

Why wouldn't he stop staring at her? Did he detest her that much that he had to prove his point by gawping at her? No, that didn't make sense. If he detested her, then he'd try to avoid her as much as possible. That's what any normal person would do. Then again, Draco Malfoy wasn't exactly a _normal person, _was he?

Hermione jumped slightly as the wedding march began.

"Are you all right, dear?" Mrs. Weasley whispered from beside her.

"Fine," Hermione choked out, forcing a bright smile on her face. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just look a little tense is all," Mrs. Weasley said, shooting her a worried glance.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione smiled before turning back to the front, where Harry was now stood next to Pansy.

When the ceremony was over, the same procedure was done. The bride and groom was rushed into the abandoned classroom for the reception, hundreds of photographs were taken and they were shoved onto the dance floor for their first dance.

Draco Malfoy, however, was sat at the back of the room, downing a glass of fire whisky with Blaise.

"Just go and apologise to her, mate," Blaise said, noticing the blonds gaze had once again drifted to the bushy haired Gryffindor.

"I haven't done anything wrong," Draco mumbled, pouring himself another glass of whiskey.

"You haven't done anything wrong?" Blaise said, shooting him an incredulous look. "So first you shout at your wife for not telling you who she first ever slept with, then your storm into our flat and blow up the couch? And you're now refusing to talk to her."

Draco turned to glare at his best friend.

"I am not refusing to talk to her! It's her! She won't even spare me a glance, Blaise."

"Because you've clearly hurt her feelings! Even a blind man could see that!" Blaise said, exasperated. The other Slytherin really was an imbecile sometimes.

Draco looked back at his wife once again. She was talking quietly to Ginny, a frown on her face.

"I'm not apologizing," Draco said stubbornly.

It was better this way. Maybe she would begin to hate him so much she would demand a divorce, wanting to instead live in the Muggle world. It would be safer for her that way. That was _he _couldn't get to her.

"You're such a prat, mate," Blaise said, shaking his head before standing up.

Draco downed his drink once again, looking at the table miserably.

"He's staring at you again, Mione," Ginny said for what seemed like the hundredth time in an hour.

Hermione squirmed uncomfortably.

"What kind of stare is it?" she muttered, not wanting to look.

"What do you mean, what kind of stare is it?" Ginny said, raisin an eyebrow at Hermione.

"Well," Hermione said, looking at Ginny. "Is it an angry stare? Or a stare of loathing? Or a stare of -"

"It's a stare of complete and utter misery," Ginny grinned gleefully.

Hermione shot Ginny a look.

"Do you enjoy watching other people's misery?"

"Maybe a little," Ginny shrugged, still grinning.

"Should've been a Slytherin, I swear," Hermione muttered.

"What was that?"

"What was what?" Hermione said, feigning innocence.

Ginny glared at her, standing up.

"I'm going to get another drink… you want anything?"

"No."

"Miserable bitch," Ginny mumbled, rolling her eyes.

Hermione sat in silence for a few minutes, staring into space.

Why was Draco looking at her with a miserable look on his face? Was he miserable that she was avoiding him? Or miserable because she hadn't cracked yet and wasn't bawling her eyes out?

She felt like it, she honestly did. She hated fighting with Draco. A year ago, it wouldn't have bothered her in the slightest. In face, it was common occurrence that she, Harry, Ron and Draco were in some sort of confrontation. But it was all different now, wasn't it?

"Ah, you must be the new Mrs. Malfoy, am I right?" a voice from beside her said. Hermione, startled, looked up suddenly. Sat in the recently vacated seat beside her, was a woman with a pale face, delicate features and well kept, brown hair.

"Uh, yes?" Hermione said, smiling politely. She was an awfully beautiful woman, Hermione decided. She also looked oddly familiar.

"My name is Camilla Parkinson," the woman said, holding her hand out for Hermione to shake. "I'm Pansy's mother."

That's why she looked familiar!

"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Hermione smiled brightly. And it was. She and Pansy had become close friends over the past few weeks, and Hermione thought very dearly of the Slytherin girl.

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine!" Mrs. Parkinson said, smiling softly. "It's really wonderful to be here today. I've been out of the country for a while now."

Hermione knew this, of course. It had been in the _Daily Prophet _a month or so after the war had ended. Mr. Parkinson, however, was spending life in Azkaban with the other of Voldemort's inner circle followers.

"But I just had to come to my darling's wedding - I simply couldn't miss it!" Mrs. Parkinson said, smiling fondly at her daughter who was dancing cheerfully with her new husband. "I'm thrilled she's found someone, you know. It's never been easy for her - well, the both of us, really. What with Jerome, my husband, being such a willing follower of the Dark Lord."

Hermione frowned slightly.

"So I take it you didn't exactly agree with the Dark Lord's regime then?"

"Agree with it? Heavens no!" Mrs. Parkinson said, shaking her head. "I didn't want anything to do with the fiasco! It was doomed from the start, if you ask me. But I wasn't alone in my feelings, though."

"How do you mean?" Hermione asked curiously.

Mrs. Parkinson gave her a look.

"There were many other wives of Death Eaters in the same position as me, dear."

"There were?"

"But of course! Lady Malfoy herself often told me of her dreams to be neutral."

"Narcissa?" Hermione said, disbelief etched into her voice. "Narcissa didn't want anything to do with the war?"

Mrs. Parkinson shook her head softly.

"No, none of us did."

"But then - why did you stay?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Because we had to!" Mrs. Parkinson said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What do you think would happen if we went swanning off, taking our children with us? We could hide, of course… but for how long? They'd have found us eventually."

Hermione couldn't believe she was hearing this. Mrs. Malfoy and all the others didn't want to be a part of it all. Hermione was beginning to see them in slightly a different light. Unless -

"You're not just saying this to earn the respect of a War hero, are you?" Hermione asked, scrutinizing the other woman. "Your reputations have, after all, been tarnished."

Mrs. Parkinson gave her an understanding look.

"I understand completely why would feel this way. But if you look at it this way … you weren't the only one's trapped in that god forsaken war."

Hermione hummed, nodding slightly. After a few moments of silence, Mrs. Parkinson spoke again.

"He looks sorry, you know," she said, causing Hermione to look up.

"Who?"

"Young Draco, of course," Mrs. Parkinson said, smiling. "During our whole conversation he's had his eyes planted firmly onto yourself, an apologetic air about him."

Hermione chanced a glance towards the table Draco was sat at and saw that he was indeed staring at her with strong intensity.

"He's a stubborn boy, that one," Mrs. Parkinson's voice broke through Hermione's thoughts. "Always has been, even as a child. But he means well."

Hermione snapped her eyes away from Draco and dropped her gaze once again to her lap.

"Don't be to quick disregard the situation, Mrs. Malfoy," Mrs. Parkinson said, standing up. "Thank you for your time. I see an old family friend over there I've just been dying to talk to! It was a pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure to meet you, too, Mrs. Parkinson," Hermione said, standing up to give the older woman a polite hug. "Goodbye."

When Mrs. Parkinson was gone, Hermione stood still, watching her friends. Harry was chatting merrily to Pansy and an Elvin looking woman, Ron and Luna were yapping away to Neville and Astoria, while Ginny and Blaise were cuddled happily in a corner, conversing only to themselves.

She was happy for them. Happy that they had been able to get over past prejudices and find peace and maybe even love. She wished she could have that. She knew she didn't love Draco. Not yet, anyway. And she knew that he would no doubt never love her in return.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione turned around and strode towards the door, smiling politely as she passed joyous guests.

She walked absently through corridor after corridor, finally finding herself in the Astronomy Tower.

Everything went wrong there. Professor Dumbledore had died. The war would have no doubt been over a lot quicker if he were alive to help Harry, Ron and Hermione in their hunt for the Horcruxes. This was where Draco was nearly forced to commit murder; scaring himself for life.

But it was also such a beautiful place. Standing at the ledge of the tower, you could look across the whole of the school grounds, and could even see parts of Hogsmeade.

"It's such a memorable place, isn't it?" a voice said from behind her.

Hermione spun around, startled. Stood at the top of the spiral staircase was Draco, his familiar platinum blond hair waving softly in the wind.

"Yes, I suppose it is," Hermione said, her voice cracking ever so slightly.

"Look, Hermione -" Draco started, breaking off. He frowned, and looked as though he didn't quite know what to say.

He shuffled forward, sighing.

"Look," he started again. "I overreacted, okay? I'm an idiotic, melodramatic fool."

Hermione chuckled ever so slightly.

"I was just going to say that you overreacted, but hey, you added the insults," she tried to joke.

He gave her a half smile.

"Why did you overreact, though?" Hermione asked as he made his way towards her.

"Because - I was just jealous," he muttered.

"Jealous?" Hermione asked, frowning. "Why would you be jealous? You got to marry me, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did, but -" Draco said, stopping again. "I don't know. I think it's just a guy thing."

They didn't say anything for a few minutes, instead stared out at the night sky in silence.

"It was Ron," Hermione said after a few minutes. She felt liked she owed it to him to tell him.

"What?" Draco said, confusion laced in his voice.

"Ron, he was my first time," Hermione explained. As soon as she said it though, she regretted it. She didn't even have to look at him to see he had tensed up. "It doesn't matter, though -"

"How did it happen?" Draco said, glaring moodily out at the sky.

"What?"

"How did you sleep with him? You're his best friend, are you not? It's like me sleeping with Pansy. It's not something most people do with their best friends."

Hermione could feel one of his temper tantrum's coming on. Temper tantrum, she mentally snorted. It made him sound like he was four.

"We were celebrating after the war. I had one to many to drink -"

"So he took advantage of you, then?" Draco said, spinning around to face her.

"What? No! He was drunk too, we both were! Draco, you're overreacting again!" Hermione said, an exasperated look on her face.

She couldn't believe him sometimes!

Draco took a deep breath, calming himself, Hermione thought.

"You're right, I'm sorry," he said after a few minutes. "It's just the thought of Weasley getting there before me."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You still don't like him? I thought things were slightly better with the pair of you now?"

"It is - kind of."

"Well, you great idiot, it needs to be better than kind of, if you're going to be married to me for the rest of your life," Hermione said, scolding him playfully.

"Oh, the horror!" Draco said, slapping a hand across his forehead. "However will I cope?"

"Oh shut up, you idiot!" Hermione laughed, slapping him lightly on the arm.

Draco surprised her, however, by grabbing her quickly around the waist, pulling her flush against him.

"I really am sorry, you know," he whispered down at her. "I don't like sharing."

"Well you're gonna have to learn, Draco," Hermione said, looking up at him. "They are just as much part of my life as you are. They're my family."

Draco sighed, resting his forehead against Hermione's.

"Wait until my father hears that I'm getting chummy with the boy who lived and his army of blood-traitors," Draco muttered.

"Wait, your father? But he's in Azkaban. Surely he won't -" Hermione started, frowning.

Draco shot her a soft smile, that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I know, I know," Draco said. "Force of habit, worrying about my father. But I don't care about him. I care about what happens here and now."

"And what is happening here and now?" Hermione inquired, a soft, suggesting smile on her face.

"Well, I was thinking about going for a late night match of Quidditch with Potter, but if you have other things in mind, then I'm sure I can reschedule."

Hermione giggled, rolling her eyes.

"The day I let you and Harry go for a late night match of Quidditch is the day I want to arrange a funeral - which is never, might I add."

Draco put a fake look of disappointment on his face before shrugging.

"Hmm, suit yourself," he told her, swooping his face down, his mouth resting gently against hers.

Hermione sighed, loving the feeling. How wonderful it felt to be kissed by Draco Malfoy.

_End Authors Note: _There we have it! They've officially made up! WHOOP! ;) But it's no bed of roses, is it, M'dears?

Next Chapter should be up next weekend. Probably Sunday, though, because I'm going camping on Friday and Saturday night! ;D! Won't be back till Sunday ;D! LOVEYOU ALL! ;D Don't forget to hit that little review button! ;) x!


	13. Chapter Twelve

_Authors note: _Wow. This has taken me a while to get this out, hasn't it? For that, I'm deeply sorry.

I wont start explaining why it's late, because I know half of you will scoff, roll your eyes at your screens, and mutter how I'm a liar. Trust me, I've done it to many before myself.

I just have one thing to say… OH MY GOD, I'VE JUST WATCHED HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART TWO!

Honestly, words cannot express how amazing it was. I will not utter a peep of what happens, for those who haven't seen it yet. If you have, feel free to mail me and start squealing like a fan girl. I don't mind. ;D!

Let me just say this: I cried. I don't often cry on movies. The only films I recall crying on was the Titanic, The Notebook, My Sisters Keeper, Harry Potter films and the Lion King. That's right, the Lion king. It's a real tear-jerker. No joke.

Any way, as I have no idea if I've replied to any of my reviews, you'll find all of your reply's at the bottom, like usual.

Read on, dears:

Realize - Chapter Twelve. 

Date: 21st September 1998. (Words: 4461) 

Blaise Zabini woke suddenly by to an odd noise. He lay silently in bed for a few seconds, trying to figure out what the noise was. He sat up, startled, when he heard it again.

It was then that he noticed his fiery, red-headed wife was not in bed besides him, snoring softly.

With his brow furrowing, Blaise threw the covers off of him and swung his legs off the bed, hopping up.

The sounds continued as he made his way out of the bedroom. Ginny was not, as he thought, in the living room. Nor the kitchen. Frowning more deeply, he made his way to the bathroom.

"Oh my god!" he said suddenly, eyes wide. Ginny was sat on the floor, leaning against the toilet, her face deathly pale and clammy. "What's the matter, Gin?"

The red head glared at him weekly.

"What do you think's the matter, you nonce?" she snapped. "I'm puking my guts up! Honestly, you would still be asleep if an army of Inferi came storming through the room."

Blaise didn't know if he should be offended, or laugh at his wife's pathetic attempts at an insult.

He was about to add to the conversation when Ginny's eyes widened. She swiftly turned her head back towards the toilet and began retching once again.

He now knew what that odd noise was. He had a slightly worried look on his face. He crouched down besides Ginny and began rubbing her back in a soothing motion.

"That's right, get it all out," Blaise whispered, reaching forward to grab Ginny's hair, keeping it out of the way from her mouth.

Once she'd stopped retching, she pulled back, wiping her mouth with a flannel that was placed on the floor besides her.

"God, I hate being sick," Ginny moaned.

"Was it something you ate?" Blaise said, frowning. "Coz I could go and have a word with the house elves if you -"

"Blaise, are you really that dense?" Ginny chuckled slightly, rolling her eyes.

Blaise quirked an eyebrow in question.

"I'm not quite sure what you're implying, Mrs. Zabini," he said, smirking. He still liked the sound of that. _Mrs. Zabini._

"You know when I mentioned at Hermione and Draco's wedding that I think we should check with Madam Pomfrey?" Ginny said softly, a small smile creeping up her lips.

Understanding suddenly dawned on Blaise's face. Man, he really _was _dense.

"You don't think-?" he started, a huge grin sliding onto his face.

Ginny nodded, returning his grin.

"I think so," she whispered.

Blaise stood up suddenly.

"Then we'll go to the Hospital wing immediately!" he said, his hand reaching towards Ginny. "Are you well enough to get dressed?"

"I'm fine, Blaise," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. She grabbed his hand and he pulled her up with ease.

He threaded his fingers through hers and they left the bathroom together, both grinning madly.

Nearly an hour later, Ginny was showered and dressed in her school uniform, as was Blaise, and they had made their way down to the Hospital Wing.

"What can I do for you, Mr. and Mrs. Zabini?" Madam Pomfrey said, opening the curtains. As she did this, one of the patients groaned at the sudden brightness shining through the windows. "Oh, stop your groaning, Mr. McCullan, it's nearly eight o'clock!"

Ginny stepped forward, a little timidly.

"Well, Madam Pomfrey," she said, smiling. "I woke up this morning, throwing my guts up."

Madam Pomfrey stopped what she was doing, which was rearranging Medicines and looked at the girl.

"You mean you think you might be pregnant?" she said bluntly.

Ginny nodded.

"All right, Mrs. Zabini," Madam Pomfrey said. "If you and Mr. Zabini will please follow me."

They followed Madam Pomfrey into a room that led off of the main infirmary.

The room wasn't very big. It had a desk, a few book shelves, a couple chairs and an examination table. The walls a pale, dull white.

"If you would please take a seat," Madam Pomfrey said, shuffling over to the book case, retrieving a book. "You're the first to come to me since the Marriage Law, Mrs. Zabini."

"Really?" Blaise said, sitting in a chair next to the examination table, where Ginny was perched.

"Indeed," said Madam Pomfrey, flipping through the book. "Ahah!" she said.

She briefly read the text before placing it on the desk.

"The procedure is simple. I say a simple spell, and a light will appear around Mrs. Zabini's stomach. If the light is green, it means she is with child and if the light is red, then she is not."

"Okay," Ginny nodded, her stomach clenching nervously.

Madam Pomfrey reached into the apron she wore and retrieved her wand. Raising it, she directed it at Ginny's stomach.

"_gravida expertus,_" she said. When nothing happened, Blaise and Ginny frowned.

"What's wrong with it? Why isn't it doing anything?" Blaise said, worry laced in his voice.

Madam Pomfrey smiled patiently at them.

"You have to wait two minutes, as you do with Muggle pregnancy tests."

Blaise sighed in relief. He honestly didn't know what was coming over him! Before he had married Ginny he was laid back and barely stressed about a thing. Now, he's always worried! Mainly for her health and happiness.

Blaise and Ginny waited impatiently for two minutes. Neither of them spoke a word, both of them equally nervous. They both would be thrilled if Ginny was pregnant, but were completely anxious. They were, after all, still extremely young.

Ginny gasped when she felt a tingling sensation in her stomach, and let her head drop down. Her jaw dropped when she saw the glowing light.

"Blaise! Blaise we're -" she started, her eyes snapping up to her husband, who was looking at her stomach, a beam on his face. The light was green.

"Congratulations!" Madam Pomfrey said, smiling joyously at the pair.

"We're going to have a baby," Blaise muttered, shocked. "We're going to have a baby!"

Madam Pomfrey didn't know who was more excited, Blaise or Ginny.

"Now, there is another spell I can perform on Mrs. Zabini," Madam Pomfrey said, once again consulting the book. "It will tell you the sex of the baby. Blue for a boy and pink for a girl. However, if you do not wish to know the sex then that is completely fine."

Blaise and Ginny shared a look.

"I completely understand if you want to know the sex," Blaise told Ginny.

"Do you, though?" Ginny said. "Want to know the sex, I mean."

"To be honest, I want it to be a surprise. It'll be much more special when the little thing comes along," Blaise said fondly.

Ginny smiled at Blaise's already obvious affection to the unborn baby.

"I want it to be a surprise, too," Ginny said, turning towards Madam Pomfrey. "We wont be needing that spell, thank you, Madam Pomfrey."

The woman in question smiled.

"Very well," she said, raising her wand once again. "I have to cast one more spell, just to make sure the baby is well and healthy."

Ginny nodded, grinning madly. She was going to have a baby! Wait until her family found out! Her mother was going to have a field day.

"_Sanus Infantia,_" Madam Pomfrey said, a soft golden glow emitting from the wand and landing on Ginny's stomach.

After a few seconds of silence, Madam Pomfrey cancelled the spell and smiled up the Ginny.

"You have a healthy little baby. Every thing seems to be in order."

Blaise and Ginny beamed at each other, and Ginny subconsciously let her hands drift down to her stomach, holding it happily.

"Now, you must return once a month for routine check ups. As you both may know, Wizarding Pregnancies are much quicker than Muggle ones, and rarely last for more than six months. So you should have your little bundle of joy by February next year," Madam Pomfrey told them, writing down something on a piece of parchment.

She pulled her wand out once more and duplicated the parchment, handing one of them to Ginny and filing the other away in a folder. She then grabbed a little booklet and handed it to Ginny as well.

"This has all the information you need to know about wizarding pregnancies. There are also other books in the library you will be able to check out. On that paper is the dates you will need to return for your check ups. In five weeks, you will have a scan."

Ginny nodded, eyeing the parchment, a grin still planted firmly on her face.

"Thank you so much, Madam Pomfrey," Blaise said, reaching to hold Ginny's hand.

"It's not a problem, Mr. Zabini. That's all for now. You should get to breakfast. You're feeding for two now, don't forget," Madam Pomfrey said to Ginny. "And congratulations once again."

When Ginny shoved the booklet and parchment into her school bag, she thanked Madam Pomfrey once again and left the room with Blaise, huge grins on their faces.

"They're staring."

"They are not staring."

"They are! Look at that fourth year gawping at us!"

"Fine, just one person," Draco Malfoy said, rolling his eyes. He turned to face his wife. "Hermione, will you relax? It's not even breakfast and you're already worrying."

Hermione huffed slightly as they made their way down the final stair case that led out onto the Entrance Hall.

"It's not my fault we're constantly being gawped at!" Hermione said, glaring sharply at a third year girl who was staring at Hermione's and Draco's intertwined hands with awe. "You would think that I've just confessed I pushed someone of the Astronomy Tower!"

Draco sighed as they entered the Great Hall, which was nearly full by the time they arrived.

"Hermione, if I'd had know you was this dramatic, I would have told the Ministry to piss off and gone to live in a Muggle Nudist Colony," he tried to joke, which made her glare at him.

"Slytherin or Gryffindor?" she bit out.

"Er, what?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"Would you like to sit at Gryffindor table or Slytherin table?"

Merlin was she in a grumpy mood. Someone must have got out of bed the wrong side this morning.

Draco looked over at his house's table to see his friends absent. With a quick glance to Gryffindor table he spotted them sat amongst the gaggle of red, gold and black robes.

"Gryffindor," Draco said, pulling Hermione towards the table. Maybe some toast and a conversation with her peers would cheer her up. He doubted it.

When they took seats besides Pansy and Harry, they were immediately greeted. Draco was not however, happy to see Ron sat across from him, talking to Luna, oblivious to Draco's glare.

"Morning!" Harry beamed, shooting Pansy sickly sweet glances out of the corner of his eyes. "Sleep well?"

"Wonderfully," Hermione bit out, grabbing a glass and the jug of Pumpkin Juice, pouring it huffily.

"What's got your wand in a knot?" Ron questioned as he shovelled sausages and eggs onto his plate. Luna was sat besides him, reading the Quibbler while munching on a piece of toast. They were the only couple out of the group that had not yet tied the knot, bar Neville and Astoria.

Hermione only glared at Ron as she began buttering a piece of toast. Draco inwardly grinned when he noticed his wife's glare. Ha! Take that, Weasel.

"She's just annoyed that people are apparently staring at us," Draco snipped, sipping a cup of tea. "Personally, I don't see it."

"Just because you get attention all the time doesn't mean people aren't staring," Hermione said moodily. She wasn't really angry with Draco. Just frustrated that people felt the need to openly stare at the two. Honestly, what was so fascinating about them?

"Hermione, they're just staring because they're curious," Luna said, smiling. "They find it odd that you two haven't killed one another yet."

"Lovegood's right, Hermione," Pansy nodded. "They're just wondering why Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prince and Gryffindor Princess are actually, dare I say it, enjoying their marriage."

Hermione contemplated her friends words. They were right. Maybe the stares and curious glances would die down as the day went by? After all, they weren't really all that interesting.

"Hey, guys!" Ginny said as she and Blaise slid onto the bench besides Ron and Luna, across from Hermione.

"What's got you two grinning so madly?" Harry asked. Ever the observant one.

"I have no idea what you mean," Blaise said, his grin widening.

"Oh pull the other one," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "You look like a cat that just ate the canary."

Ginny shot Blaise a look. When he nodded, she turned back to the others.

"We have some news."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up.

"What news?"

"I'm - that's to say we - we're -" Ginny started, obviously too excited to string a sentence together.

"We're going to have a baby," Blaise burst out, beaming.

Their friends immediately burst into applauds of happiness.

"Oh my god, congratulations!" Hermione grinned at them, her previous frustrations long forgotten.

"Wow," Ron said, shocked as hell. His little sister was going to have a baby! "When did you find out?"

"Just now," Ginny grinned.

"You told the family yet?" Harry said, smiling with happiness. He was glad Ginny was happy. Plus, he was going to be an Uncle! Well, maybe not a blood one, but an uncle none the less.

"Not yet, I was going to write them all a letter now," Ginny said, pulling out a few pieces of parchment, a pot of ink and a quill. "But first, I'm starving!"

The other's laughed before digging into their own breakfasts, talking happily amongst each other.

Hermione sighed in irritation, closing her book with a '_snap!'. _

She had come to the library during break in hopes of getting away from the staring, to no avail.

There was a group of second year Hufflepuffs a couple of tables away from her who were whispering to one another, shooting Hermione glances.

Honestly, it's not like she married Lord Voldemort himself! Draco was merely a useless pawn. Hermione frowned. She didn't like thinking of Draco like that. He was more than a useless pawn. He was smart, insightful, grumpy, kind, grumpy and handsome. Did she mention grumpy?

That boy was not a morning person.

Packing away her book, Hermione stood from her seat and walked towards the exit of the library, waving at Madam Pince as she left.

When lunch rolled around, Ron was nearly bursting with excitement.

"I've come up with a brilliant plan!" he told his friends. "We're going to throw Ginny and Blaise a 'Congratulations!' party."

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Is this just an excuse for you to get plastered?"

Ron shot him a lopsided grin.

"You know me oh so well, Mr. Potter."

"Ron, you mustn't. It's a school night!" Hermione scolded.

She shot Draco a quick glance, who was sat on the other side of the room at the Slytherin table. They had decided that they would not spend every single meal time together, to avoid getting frustrated with one another. They were bound to clash every now and again if they spent every waking moment together.

Hermione had come to realize that she and Draco both wanted to avoid another huge fight. The last one had been bad enough.

"Hermione," Ron said, continuing the conversation. "That's what you've got Hangover potions for."

"All the same, Ronald," Hermione said, turning back to Ron. "Don't you have any homework to complete?"

"Some things never change," Ron muttered. "Look, Hermione, I've just found out my little sister's having a baby. Do you honestly blame me for wanting to celebrate a little?"

Hermione looked at him, smiling softly.

"I understand, Ron," she told him, reaching to pat his hand. "Just try not to get _too_ drunk, will you? Otherwise I wont want to leave you with Luna! Merlin are you a handful when you've had a few Fire Whiskeys."

All the while this conversation was happening, the Golden Trio failed to notice a certain blond-haired Slytherin glaring over at Ron with pure annoyance and distrust.

When the day's lesson's were finally over with, Hermione was more than a little relieved.

People hadn't taken their eyes off her or Draco all day.

People stared more now than they did when Hermione had helped win the war. And they had really stared then.

What Hermione wanted to know, was what was so interesting about her being married to Draco Malfoy, ex Death Eater? Harry was married to Pansy, and they weren't getting nearly the same amount of stares. Just the usual amount. He _was _Harry Potter, after all.

Hermione sighed as she made her way towards the Family wing.

"Hey, Mione! Wait up!" a voice called from behind her.

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks and spun around.

Ron was striding towards her, his face flushed and his breath coming out in pants.

"I've been calling your name for five minutes now!" he said, catching up to her.

"Oh, sorry," Hermione said distractedly. "I was in a world of my own."

Ron waved it off, smiling at her.

"I just wanted to tell you that there's a party at ours tonight," he told her. "You have to come! To celebrate Ginny's and Blaise's good news."

Hermione frowned ever so slightly. She didn't exactly agree with having a party on a school night, but she didn't want to disappoint her friends. And it was for a good cause, after all.

"What time do you want me there?" Hermione said, smiling.

"Really? You'll come?" Ron said, his face lighting up.

Hermione nodded.

"Excellent," Ron told her. "Come by at around eight? Oh, and bring Malfoy. Listen I have to go… see you later though?"

"Sure," Hermione said, smiling as Ron started backing away.

Hermione stared down the hall way for a few seconds after him, before turning slowly.

She jumped a foot in the air, however, when somebody was stood behind her.

"Jesus, Draco! Don't do that!" Hermione gasped, holding her rapidly beating chest.

"What were you doing with him?" Draco said, glaring down at Ron's retreating back.

Hermione frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"You were talking to him," Draco told her.

"Yeah, so?" Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "What, I'm not aloud to talk to my friends now?"

"I didn't say that," Draco said, no emotion in his voice whatsoever.

Hermione looked up at him, confused.

"This isn't about what I told you is it?" Hermione asked. "You know, about that night? Because that was a one time thing."

Draco looked back down at her, his glare softening slightly.

"I'm sorry, I'm just -" he started, but was unable to finish.

"I know," Hermione said softly, smiling up at him. "Come on, we've got a party to prepare for."

Nearly two hours later, Draco was rushing around frantically.

"Hermione, I can't find my shoes!"

Hermione looked up from the dressing table, putting the back of her earring on.

"What do you mean, you can't find your shoes?"

"I mean I can't find them! What did you do with them? They were right here when I went in the shower!" he said, pointing at the foot of the bed.

Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up, walking over to the bed. She got down on her knee's and flipped the cover up to look underneath the bed.

"Ahah," she said, retrieving something, a triumphant smirk on her face.

When she stood back up, she was holding Draco's shoe's in her hand. "Do open your eyes, Draco."

Draco glared half heartedly, taking the shoes. He sat down on the bed and slipped his shoe's on.

"Why do we even have to go to this stupid party?" he grumbled.

"Because we're celebrating our friends pregnancy!" Hermione told him sharply. "Now come on! We're going to be the last ones there, at this rate!"

Draco muttered all the way out of the flat, down the hall, right up until they reached Ron and Luna's room.

Hermione's assumptions had been correct, as when they let themselves into the room, nearly everyone was already there.

"Hermione!" Neville said, grinning. "Drink?"

"Thank you Neville," Hermione said, as he handed her a goblet of Pumpkin juice.

"Just to be on the safe side," Neville winked.

"Right," Hermione smiled awkwardly before turning to look at Draco. "You wanna go find Ginny and Blaise?"

"Sure, lets go," Draco smiled, taking her hand.

They found the pair stood towards the back of the room, talking happily with Pansy and Harry.

" - it's a girl, we were thinking of the name Eboney, and for a boy Cameron, weren't we, Blaise?" Ginny's voice floated to them.

"Yes, dear," Blaise said, smiling elatedly down at his wife. "We wanted to keep it slightly Muggle, you know."

"Oh, Hermione, Draco!" Ginny said suddenly, stopping the conversation. "I'm so glad you could make it!"

"Sorry we're late," Hermione said, hugging her friend. "Somebody couldn't find their shoes," she added, shooting a look towards Draco.

He rolled his eyes and shook hands with Blaise and Harry.

"It was so nice of Ron to do this for us - oh, here he comes now. Ron!" Ginny said, waving him over.

"All right?" Ron said, grinning.

"Ron, I was just saying how nice it was for you to do this for us," Ginny beamed.

"Yeah, thanks mate," Blaise nodded.

Ron chuckled.

"It's not a problem," he told them. "Besides, Luna just loves throwing parties, apparently."

Hermione chuckled, causing Ron to look at her.

"Hermione, you look beautiful, as always," Ron said, leaning forward to give Hermione a hug, kissing her on the cheek.

Draco glared furiously, causing Hermione to cough awkwardly.

"Drake, what's the matter?" Pansy asked, placing a hand on his arm.

"Nothing," he said through gritted teeth, still glaring at Ron.

Ron shifted uncomfortably when he noticed the glare was directed at him.

"What?" he asked a little hotly.

"Nothing," Draco hissed once again.

Ron quirked an eyebrow.

"No, go on, spit it out," Ron said, his voice raising slightly, causing people around to stop and stare.

Draco took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He wouldn't show him and Hermione up. Not because of his jealously. So what if she slept with the Weasel? It was a one time thing. She doesn't have any feelings for him.

But they were having that 'intimate' conversation. Hermione smiled differently at Ron than she did with himself. Was the smile that she smiled at him a fake one? A forced one? Did she wish that she had married Weasley instead of Draco?

"I'm waiting," Ron said, crossing his arms.

"Ron, stop it," Hermione warned, shooting a worried look at Draco. "Come on Draco let's -"

"No Hermione," Ron said, looking directly at Malfoy. "I'm waiting for an answer."

"What's going on between you and Hermione?" Draco burst out, shocking everyone.

"Er, what's this about?" Harry asked, confused.

"Draco -" Pansy started, obviously trying to avoid a confrontation.

"Nothing's going on with me and Hermione!" Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"Don't lie, Weasley," Draco said furiously. "I've seen the way you look at her."

Hermione's mouth dropped.

"Draco, don't be -"

"Don't be what, Hermione?" Draco said, glaring at her. "Worried that someone else is in love with my wife?"

"What are you talking about?" Ron scoffed. "Yeah, I love Hermione, but as a _friend, _Malfoy. As a family member."

Draco sneered at him. He knew he should shut up. He was overreacting again. But he couldn't stop himself. His stomach turned at the thought of someone else wanting Hermione. She was _his _wife! Nobody else's. And it was going to stay that way.

"Oh yes, because we all believe that," Draco snapped. "You're pathetic, Weasley, going after somebody else's -"

"I'm not going after her!" Ron shouted. "I do not want Hermione!"

Hermione looked at him, unsure if she should be hurt or relieved at his words. She then turned to Draco, an annoyed look on her face.

"Draco Malfoy, if you do not shut up right now, so help me I will curse you into the middle of next week!"

Draco turned back to face Hermione, his face softening again. It always seemed to do that when he looked her. God, he was turning into a soppy Hufflepuff! Just what he had feared !

"I'm sorry, Hermione," he muttered, blushing slightly.

"It's not me you should be apologizing too," Hermione said softly, the glare leaving her face. She never could stay mad at him for long. Not even when they were enemies.

Draco took a deep breath. He couldn't believe he'd let himself come to this. The shame. Saying _sorry _to a Weasley. A blood-traitor. But then he was the one married to a Muggle-born. Did that make him a blood-traitor, too?

"I apologize sincerely, Weasley," Draco said, trying to keep the sarcastic tone out of his voice. He failed.

Ron nodded stiffly.

"That's fine," he said. "Just try not to ruin my sister's party anymore, will you?"

"Ron," Ginny said sharply, glaring at him. "Drop it."

Draco didn't say anything. A muscle in his jaw twitched slightly and his fists clenched.

Finally, he gave a stiff nod.

"Right, good," Harry said awkwardly, looking from face to face. "Punch anyone?"

"I cannot believe you did that!" Hermione said sharply as she kicked her shoes off. She bent down and grabbed them, walking briskly to the wardrobe.

"I've apologized ten times already!" Draco said in exasperation. "When will you stop being such a bloody Gryffindor and forgive me?"

Hermione turned around suddenly, glaring.

"When you stop embarrassing not only me, but yourself in front of my friends. This constant jealousy has to stop, Draco!" she told him, crossing her arms. "It's sad and slightly pathetic."

Draco's head fell forwards and Hermione was surprised to see an ashamed look on her husbands face.

She didn't think she'd ever get used to that. Her husband.

"I know, Hermione," Draco sighed. "From now on, I'll stop being -"

"An insufferable twat?" she said bluntly.

Draco looked up, blinking in shock.

She gave a small chuckle, a broad smirk creeping up her lips.

"You are a fool Draco Malfoy," she told him, walking forwards slowly. "To think that I'd ever think of Ron in that way."

Draco rolled his eyes.

"How can I not be jealous? You've grown into quite an attractive young woman over the years, Mrs. Malfoy."

Hermione snorted as she stopped in front of him.

"I don't quite know what to make of all these compliments you're throwing at me, Draco," she told him, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Well, maybe instead of telling me - ," Draco whispered, his arms snaking around her waist, his head inching closer to hers. "why don't you show me?"

Hermione's mouth dropped open, and before she could respond in any way, he placed a soft, gentle kiss upon her lips.

_End Authors Note: _I'm not entirely thrilled with this chapter, but it's not the worse thing I've ever written, I'll admit.

I would just like to say this now, this will be the last update till August, as I'm going on holiday soon, and I wont have the time to update. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Any way, review reply time!

**Ana: **Ahh, thank you! I'm glad their fight is over, too! I'm glad you liked Harry and Pansy's wedding! I'm also thrilled that you enjoyed the bit with Pansy's mother! I hope you liked this chapter!

**Dramione-Fan 17**: So am I! Thanks for the review and I hope you liked this chapter!

**xXheartandsoulXx: **Thank you so much for your review, dear! I hope you liked this chapter!

**FlareonRocks: **Thank you! I had a brilliant time camping! Except I lost my bag, which had all my clothes, my make up and everything in it. -.- ;L! I'm glad they made up too! You have no idea how awful it is, writing a fight sequence between one of your favourite couples.

**Miss quirky bookworm: **Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked that! I just randomly added that in when I was writing it. I hadn't planned on it, but I thought it was a nice touch. Cheers for the review!

**Mollyloumellon: **Thanks for the review! I had great fun camping! Thanks for that! ;D.

**XoBrownEyedGirlox: **So am I! Thanks for the review!

**Percysis16:** Ahaa, I know, it was, wasn't it? ;D! I hope you liked this chapter!

**Christy86: **Thank you so much! I did, thank you!

**Sweet-tang-honney: **Thank you!

**Principi Phantasia: **Ahh, I did? Brilliant! I'm glad! I know, I did too, at first. I had this whole scene imagined where Draco stormed off, hunted Ron down and hexed him thoroughly. But I decided against it. Thank you, dear! It's always great to read your reviews!

**Gleek-043: **Ahh, you liked that bit? I honestly didn't think people would find that funny. I may have said this before, but I always imagine them saying these hilarious things, but they never turn out funny when it's written down. I could never be a screen-writer…

Thanks for the review!

**Rockerangel89: **You did? Ahh, thanks! Yeah, that's the main thing, isn't it? I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for the review!

**: **Yeah, I know where you're coming from. I have a guy best friend who is almost exactly like Draco. Except he has short black hair and females aren't exactly his 'type' if you know what I mean ;)! ;L! Thank you so much!

**Tale: **You know, I always seem to grin when I see your reviews. You never fail to make me smile, dear.

Thank you so much for your kind comments. I'm glad you liked the part with Mrs. Parkinson and you understand the meaning of their conversation. I'm also thrilled that you, like I, don't believe Hermione and Draco's relationship to be perfect, and know that in the future, there will be arguments. No matter what. I hope you liked this chapter, and I'm looking forward to your review.

**XxSlytheringirl101xx: **I'm glad you liked it! Ah, we've gotta have a bit of Draco's stubborn side in this, don't we? We all know it's there. ;). I know, his soft side towards Hermione is quite sweet, isn't it? Thanks for the review!

**Shamonti: **So am I! ;D Thanks for the review!

**XX Mizz Alec VolturiXx: **Ahh, I love seeing a Twilight fan reading Harry Potter. Just proves that you can read on series without hating the other! ;D! Thanks for the review, dear!

**Lolol: **Thank you! Ah, it's completely understandable that you skipped the lemon. It's not everyone's cuppa tea. I used to hate them until I read a rather intriguing one. Ahh, wouldn't we all like to see Lucius's reaction? ;)! Thanks for the review!

**Emma217: **Ah! I love getting a new reader! Welcome, dear! Thank you so much! Ahh, so am I sweet, so am I! Thanks for the review!

**Spoilergirl13: **Thanks so much!

**SparklyVikingOriginalVampire: **I like your name! ;D Thank you so much! I'm glad you love it! I hope you liked this chapter! Cheers for reviewing!

**4blueeyes9: **I know, I'm incredibly sorry. This is extremely late. I've been uber busy. But here's the next update! I hope you liked it, dear!

Wow. Finally finished with the reviews! Again, I'd like to thank every single one of you who have reviewed and alerted this story and myself. It means a great deal to me.

23 reviews for last chapter! That brings us up to 257 now! WHOO! Go us! Anyway, as I said, next update will **not **be up until **August **as I'm going on holiday. Sorry folks, but I need a break. ;D! See you all soon! And don't forget to review! Love you all!


	14. Chapter Thirteen

_Authors Note: _Hello, dears! I apologize for the long wait! I feel extremely bad about that.

Firstly, I would just like to thank all the supportive and kind messages/reviews I've received from you all. It means the world to me that you all have faith in me.

This chapters not the best, and certainly not one of my favourites. It's more of a filler chapter, really. Kinda short.

I typed it up at 1:30am and I'm incredibly tired and too lazy to re-read it. So, if it has any major mistakes, which I don't think it has, then eh, I don't care(': Read on, dears…

Chapter Thirteen.

Date: Monday 28th September 1998. (Words: 2417.)

A week had passed since the fiasco at Blaise and Ginny's 'congratulations' party.

Things went along as usual. The students attended classes, often sat together at lunch, and Ron and Draco casually avoided each other's gaze.

"You can't keep avoiding him, Draco," Hermione said, rolling her eyes as she put her books into her book bag.

"Who said I'm avoiding him? Weasley's just not worthy of my attention," Draco said snootily, fiddling with his blond locks.

When he caught Hermione's piercing glare, however, he flushed.

"Sorry, it's just old -"

"Habits die hard, yeah, yeah, so you've told me a million times," Hermione scowled. "You don't treat Ginny this way."

Draco huffed slightly. He'd explained this to her a thousand times! Blimey, she just didn't listen.

"As I've said before…Ginny's not a Weasley. She's a Zabini."

Hermione scoffed.

"As if that makes all the difference in the world."

Draco gave her a long look. Finally, he placed a broad smirk on his face and began walking slowly towards her.

"Don't even think about it!" Hermione said, pointing at him. She knew that smirk. It was one that was on her husband's face most mornings.

"About what, dear?" he said in a falsely innocent voice. As he reached her, he pulled her into a tight hug, one hand reaching up to brush a stray lock of hair out of her face.

"You know what I'm talking about, mister!" she said sharply. "We don't have time!"

"We have all the time in the world, beautiful," Draco whispered, placing light kisses all over her face.

Hermione could feel herself caving. Merlin did he have her wrapped around his little finger.

"You're such a sex-maniac, Draco Malfoy," Hermione giggled, leaning into him.

"You love it."

* * *

"Why are you so late?" said an incredulous Harry Potter when he noticed his best friend and her husband stumble into the Great Hall towards the end of breakfast.

"Overslept," Draco said, just as Hermione burst out a nervous, "Studying!"

Hermione looked at Draco with wide eyes. She then coughed before turning back to the others, who were shooting them knowing looks.

"I was studying. Draco, however, decided to stroll out of the bed room just ten minutes ago."

"I bet he did," Pansy snorted into her pumpkin juice.

Hermione's face flushed. She _knew _she shouldn't have given into him. Now she had all of five minutes to scoff down her whole breakfast, go over her Potion's essay and get to her first class.

Her life would be much simpler if he wasn't so god-damned attractive.

"I told you they went at it like rabbits most mornings, Ronald," Luna said bluntly as she and Ron approached their friends.

Hermione flushed once more, burying her face in her hands.

"Oh god."

Draco smirked at Hermione, who was almost dying with embarrassment.

"I think we should get to class," Ron said, coughing awkwardly.

Draco shot him a small glare before wrapping his arm around Hermione protectively. He no longer thought Weasley was trying to steal his wife… he was just going to be extra careful from now on.

No one stole from a Malfoy. No one.

The group rose from the table just over five minutes later and began making their way out of the Great Hall.

Hermione hadn't managed to scoff down her breakfast at all. She had taken one look at the eggs before feeling extremely nauseas.

When they entered their Transfiguration class, Draco pulled Hermione aside.

"Are you ok?" he asked, worried.

Hermione shot him a confused look. What was he talking about?

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

He brought a hand up and stroked her cheek, smiling softly at her.

That was the smile that made her heart beat a mile a minute. It made her knees week and took her breath away. It was the most beautiful smile she'd ever seen.

"You just look pale, that's all," Draco said, dropping his hand slowly, clasping her hand in his.

"Come on, lets sit down."

Did she look pale? She didn't feel unwell. Sure, she'd felt a little sick this morning at breakfast, but it had passed as soon as it came.

* * *

By the time lunch came around, Hermione felt exhausted.

She felt like she hadn't slept in a week. Which was partially true. She was either up late studying, or up late doing something else all together. It usually involved her husband, who was constantly horny.

"I'm exhausted!" Ginny said, flumping down beside Hermione, who was sat underneath the tree by the Black Lake. "My feet are killing me!"

Hermione grinned at her best friend.

"How's Pregnancy suiting you?"

The red head groaned.

"It's horrible!" Ginny sighed. "Why do these women always go on about the pregnancy being the highlight? It's terrible!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, chuckling slightly.

"Come in, Gin, it can't be _that _bad."

Ginny shot her a look.

"You wanna bet?" she said, eyebrows raised. "I'm puking my guts up every morning, I get awful back-pains and I'm always tired!"

Hermione frowned.

"I didn't think some of those symptoms happened till later on in the pregnancy?"

"Hermione, this is magical pregnancy's we're talking about. It's much worse than bloody Muggle ones. Yes, it may be shorter, but they get all the flippin symptoms all at once!" Ginny said in exasperation. "Plus, mum told me that sometimes you do uncontrollable magic."

Hermione was confused. She thought uncontrollable magic was when kids hadn't been trained yet?

"Uncontrollable magic?"

"Yeah," Ginny said nodding. "It's the baby. Don't ask me, I don't have a clue."

Hermione rolled her eyes once more. If it had been her in Ginny's position, she would have looked it up. As it were, she'd already purchased a few parenting books from Flourish and Blotts by mail-order. She wanted to be prepared.

She couldn't exactly ask her parents about it. Magical pregnancies and Muggle ones were _completely _different. The only advice she could get from her parents were about the morning sickness and back pains.

The rest of if she'd have to figure out for herself. Oh, and from Draco, of course.

"So how are things between you and Malfoy?" Ginny said, pulling a large cheese roll out of her bag.

"Things are - things are great," Hermione said, smiling. "He still isn't completely over the thing with Ron yet, but he's getting there."

Ginny nodded as she munched greedily on her roll.

"It's understandable though," she said once she'd swallowed her food. "I mean, he's been raised to hate us all. You can't exactly expect him to hate us one minute, then be best buddies with us the next."

Hermione hummed. What Ginny said was true, but Hermione was still slightly worried. She didn't want her relationship with Draco to ruin her friendship with Ron.

If they had another fight, Hermione honestly didn't know who's side she would pick.

Her feelings for Draco were growing more and more by the minute.

During the day, when she wasn't with him, she craved him. It was like she thought about him all the time. It was driving her nuts. In a good way.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was sat in the library, glaring down at his Transfiguration essay. He had no idea why he had to learn about 'The Pro's and Con's of being an Animagus.'

He had no intention of finding out. Why would he want to transform into a disgusting animal? No, he was perfectly fine staying human, thank you.

He grabbed his Eagle-feathered Quill, (A gift from his mother) and dipped it into his ink, pondering what to write.

He was broke out of his thoughts, however, by a tapping on the window.

His head snapped up, and Draco saw that a large, tawny owl was sat on the window sill, waiting to be let in.

Draco looked around, wondering who the owl could be for. It certainly wasn't for him. The only people who wrote to him was his mother and the bank, and this owl was certainly not their owls.

But the owl was still looking at Draco, with a rather impatient look on it's face.

Draco scanned the library once more, before deciding that it _must _be for him.

He dropped his quill and pushed his chair backwards before standing up and striding over to the window.

As soon as he opened it, the owl flew in and perched itself on Draco's shoulder, much to the Slytherins annoyance.

"Shoo!" he said, waving his hand at it. The only bird that was ever allowed to sit on his shoulder was his very own owl. "Shoo!"

The owl didn't move, however. It almost looked like it was glaring at Draco. The owl stuck his leg out, waiting for Draco to take the letter.

"Fine, you incompetent bird!" he snapped, removing the letter from it's leg. As soon as he had done so, the bird flew off his shoulder, through the window and out of sight.

Draco 'hmpf'd' before wiping imaginary dirt from his shoulder.

"Bloody bird," he muttered, sitting back down at his table.

He looked down at the envelope in his hand. It didn't have anything written on it.

His brow furrowed. Pulling out his wand, Draco started muttering incantations.

"No Jinxes or curses on it, then," he said, shrugging. He ripped open the envelope and pulled out a single piece of parchment.

It was… blank.

"What?" he said, frowning. He flipped the parchment over, and as he did, his eyes widened.

Dropping the parchment on the table, he stared down at note. It had one word on it. Just one word. Traitor.

Draco felt his gut drop. Traitor.

He had a bad feeling about this, an incredibly bad feeling.

* * *

"What's this?" Blaise Zabini said when Draco had stormed up to him, shoving the letter in his face.

"It's a letter," Draco said simply, pacing back and forwards.

"Yeah, I can see that. Why are you giving it to me?"

Blaise asked, confused. "What's wrong with you?"

"Read it," Draco said, completely ignoring his last question.

"What?"

"Read it!"

Blaise rolled his eyes, opening the envelope. He pulled out the parchment.

"Traitor?" he said, looking back up at Draco. "You calling me a traitor? Listen mate, if it's about hanging out with Potter then -"

Draco huffed, stopping his pacing to turn and glare at his best friend.

"It's not about you, you bloody idiot!"

Blaise looked a little taken aback.

"Not about me? Then who's it about?"

"Are you really that dense?" Draco asked, eyebrows raised. "It was sent to _me!_"

Blaise looked back down at the letter, re-reading the one word before looking back up at the blond.

"Who sent it?"

Draco frowned. He didn't know. He had a hunch, and he hoped he wasn't right.

He shot Blaise a look, who immediately started shaking his head.

"No, don't be an idiot. _He _couldn't have possibly sent it!"

Draco ran his hands through his hair.

"How do you know that, Blaise? Are you psychic?"

"No. But I'm not an idiot, either. Mate, there's no way!" Blaise told him.

"And how do you know that?" Draco said furiously.

"Because he's in _prison!_ Last time I checked, prisoners weren't allowed to send letters."

Draco would have agreed with him, if he hadn't had that gut feeling.

"Who else could it be, then?"

"I don't know," Blaise said, shrugging. "Some crazed girl who hates you for marrying Hermione, maybe?"

Draco's eyes widened.

"That's why he sent it! Because I married Hermione!" Draco groaned.

Blaise huffed. His friend was such a idiot at times. Always jumped to conclusions. Which was why he got in the mess that he did with Weasley.

"Draco Malfoy. Will you shut up? Your father is not sending you letters! I doubt he even knows about your marriage to Granger!"

"Not Granger," Draco muttered, looking down at the floor.

"Whatever," Blaise said, waving a hand. "If this is worrying you that badly, then tell Hermione about it! But for Merlin's sake pull yourself together!"

Draco looked up at Blaise, one eyebrow raised, a slight smirk on his face. It wasn't often that Blaise lost his cool. When he did it was usually with Draco.

"I can't just go and tell her! It'll worry her sick!" Draco told him.

"Mate, if you don't tell her, I will," Blaise said firmly.

Draco didn't say anything. Only glared at him moodily.

He sometimes hated Blaise. Always sticking his nose in. The great oaf.

Nearly an hour later, Draco finally plucked up the courage to make his way back to his and Hermione's flat.

When he walked in, he saw Hermione sat on the settee, fiddling with her hands.

"Draco!" she said, smiling nervously as he walked in.

"Sorry I'm back late, was with Blaise," Draco said, placing his library books on the coffee table. "Something the matter?"

Hermione gulped.

"I think we need to talk," she told him.

Draco sighed, sitting down beside her.

"Yeah we do," he said, nodding.

"Oh, do you want to go first?" Hermione said.

Did he? Not particularly. He wanted to take her and hide her away for ever, so his father could never get to her.

"No, it's fine, you go first," he said, taking one of her hands, stroking her knuckles.

"I um - well I was talking to Ginny earlier and I -" Hermione stuttered, not getting her words out properly.

Draco looked up at her face. She looked pale again. She wasn't ill, was she? He'd better take her to the infirmary, just to check.

"What is it?" he said, worried.

"Well, she was telling me about her pregnancy. Telling me the symptoms and stuff," Hermione said, looking down at her lap.

"So?" Draco said. She was really worrying him now. Her hands were shaking! She couldn't look him in the eye, or anything. Something was clearly bothering her.

God, what was going to happen when he told her about the note he received? How would she react? What if she got really scared? He didn't want her to be scared. He didn't want her to worry, either…

He had to tell her. Right now. He had to get it out of the way.

"Hermione I-"

"Draco I think I'm pregnant!" she blurted out suddenly.

She - what? Pregnant? She couldn't be. Not now. Not when he'd just got that note! It wasn't supposed to happen like this!

They couldn't bring a baby into this! Not yet!

Oh god.

_End Authors Note:_ Oooh, so Hermione thinks she's pregnant and Draco gets a one-worded note. DUN-DUN-DUNNN!

As I mentioned up the top, not too fond of this chapter, but it was needed.

Review replies: 

_Meesha Shell: _Ah, thank you so much! I didn't believe Hermione and Draco could ever be together at one point. Then I discovered a truly amazing story and BAM, I'm into Dramione stories. I really appreciate your kind comments. Thank you! ;D!

_Anonymous Reviewer: _Ah, dear, you sometimes have to be cruel to be kind! ;D Thank you so much! Ahh, I'm glad you love my ';D' … it's a thing I always do. -.- It's a habit. I suppose it's texting and face book too much. ;D! Ahh, thank you once again! I'm glad you like the way I write. I know what you mean… I had to get eye surgery once when I read an incredibly bad fic. ;)! Haha! I hope you come up with a lovely new user name, though the last one was just as lovely. ;D!

_Barbabelle_: Ahh, sorry about that. Thanks for pointing it out! I often rush through things and don't pay attention to detail. My bad. Cheers for the review, dear! And it's so cool that you're French! I wish I could speak another language… ;D!

_Qwertyuiop: _Ahh, thank you! Sorry this has taken a while…lost my muse for a little while. But I'm back! Hope you liked this chapter, love!

_Kim:_ Ah, I have a friend called Kim! ;D! Thank you for being a loyal reader and sticking with me. It means a lot. Here's the new update. My sincerest apologies that it's not the best. -.- I needed to get the story moving again… ;D Cheers for the review, M'sweet.

_Another Anonymous Review: _Ah, I'm so happy that you believed in me, dear! Ah, don't worry, I will. ;D Aww, you really think I'm an awesome writer? Thank you! I had a wonderful holiday, thank you! ;D!

_Christy86: _Thank you so much! I had a great holiday! I'm glad you're faithful to the story, dear. Means a lot to me. Thanks! ;D

_Ineedausername: _Yes, you do need a username! ;D Thank you so much for thinking my story is awesome! You're awesome for saying it! Ahh, I'll try not too. I know, right? I hope you liked this chapter… as boring as it is! ;D

_Starlywarly: _I'm glad you're enjoying it, dear! I know, exactly! Really? That's awesome! You'll have to post it so I can read it! ;D You had the same ideas? Wow! You think like J.! ;D Thanks for the kind words, love! ;D

So that's all the reviews! Thanks once more to every one! I love you all, M'Chickens!x


	15. Authors Note

Author's note. 

Ok, so just a quick update. Not a chapter, which I'm really sorry about, by the way. I know it's been a long time since I last update, but I've literally been so busy with college.

Who knew it would be this hectic? Seriously. I've never got a free moment. When I do, I'm spending time with family and friends. So yeah, fan fiction hasn't been my top priority lately. .

So I'm half way through writing the next chapter. WHOO! As it's the Christmas holiday's soon, I should hopefully have more time to write, so the next chapter should (hopefully!) be up after Christmas.

Once again, so sorry for not updating.

Oh and lastly, can anyone who sent JenJenSon horrible reviews/p.m's apologize? Cause really guys, I know you are all looking out for me, but that's taking it a bit far. I won't have bullying. It's not right.

Thanks guys!

P.S: this AN will be deleted when I update the next chapter. Any questions, feel free to mail me.


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